


Snowflakes

by The_Dream_Team



Series: The Snowflakes Series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1970s, Canon Compliant, Death Eaters, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Friendship, Holiday, Humor, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Muggle/Wizard Relations, POV Lily Evans Potter, Pining, Skiing, Summer Vacation, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 51,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dream_Team/pseuds/The_Dream_Team
Summary: And there he was. The one boy she could not stand. His messy, jet black hair was ruffled and untidy and his glasses were sitting crooked on his nose. James Potter was here. With Lily. And all her Muggle friends. At a Muggle ski resort. Could things possibly be worse? Oh yeah, Sirius Black was there, too.*Originally written in 2009 and posted to MuggleNet FanFiction - with some slight edits*
Relationships: James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, James/Lily, Jily - Relationship
Series: The Snowflakes Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048540
Comments: 18
Kudos: 56
Collections: James and Lily Fanfics





	1. The Christophe Brazier Lodge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, thank you so much for reading Snowflakes! This story was originally posted across a span of six years, so it holds a very special place in my heart because I started it back in 2009 when I was 14 and published the last chapter in 2015 (after a 3-year hiatus... whoops) right before I turned 20. I love the Marauders and Lily with my whole heart. Reposting this story and updating some grammar/cringe 2000isms, has re-sparked my love of the series and helped me cope with JKR's recent hateful statements. The Potter fandom is lovely and creative and so, so inspiring. Thank you all for letting me be a small part of it. 
> 
> Snowflakes' original reader base on MuggleNet Fanfiction has been lost with that website, but if you ever happened upon this story on MNFF in the past, I would love to hear from you :) 
> 
> Thank you all again, much love -The_Dream_Team

Lily Evans looked out the airplane's window at the beautiful New Zealand mountains covered with pure white snow. She tapped her best friend, Cassie, and pointed to the spectacular view.  
  
A grin spread across Cassie's face as she saw the mountains. "I'm so excited," she exclaimed. "I can't wait to start skiing!" The girls were going on a month long ski trip over the summer that they had been planning for ages. "It's going to be so much fun!"  
  
Lily nodded along with her friend and went back to staring out her window. _It will be a nice break from magic,_ she thought to herself. Not that it made much difference, though. Lily was only sixteen and not yet allowed to preform magic outside of school. Plus, she usually spent her Summer holidays with her Muggle, or non-magical, parents and sister anyway, so this holiday wouldn't be much different than any other Summer Break in the Muggle world.

She was mostly happy to be with her Muggle friends, Cassie, Jill, and Bess, who she rarely got to spend quality time with. They didn't know that Lily was actually a witch and that the boarding school she went away to each year was really Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She sighed as she thought of Hogwarts. She already missed her best friend, Mary, who she wouldn't be able to keep in touch with over vacation (an owl flying into the hotel room would most likely end badly...). As much as she loved her magical school though, she was glad to get away from the stress of classes, but most importantly, James Potter. Lily was looking forward to getting a break from Potter and his mates over the holiday. Especially after how their fifth year had ended...  
  
Shaking James from her head, Lily looked over at her Muggle friends. Cassie had opened a book called Wuthering Heights and was intently reading it. She tucked her blond bangs behind her ear and flipped another page. Bess sat next to her, her usual bright blue eyes were hidden behind her eyelids, as she was heavily sleeping (and snoring) at the moment. Next to her was Jill, who was having an animated discussion with the flight attendant while braiding her dark brown hair. Lily smiled. As much as she missed Hogwarts, she horribly missed the days when the four of them were together in the same Primary school.  
  
"At this time we're going to turn on the seatbelt sign and ask that you return to your seats and ensure your seatbelts are fastened until we are parked safely at the gate. It's been our pleasure to have you with us on Northwest today and we hope to have you back with us soon. Flight attendants please prepare the cabin for landing," said a voice. Lily put the book she was reading and the rest of her belongings in her carry-on and grinned, preparing for the landing.  
  
***  
  
The landing was smooth and the girls quickly retrieved their luggage. A shuttle bus picked them up and in no time, Lily, Jill, Cassie, and Bess had reached The Christophe Brazier Lodge and found their four-bedroom residence. It was absolutely stunning, with a perfect fireplace, nice kitchen, and three bathrooms. The view of the slopes from their balcony was beautiful. Lily could see the range of mountains and tiny skiers gliding through the snow, making her itch to pick up her own skis and join them.  
  
Lily slipped away into her bedroom, complete with a double bed with an adorable quilt lying across the bottom half. A mirror hung above a wooden dresser and there were little mints placed on the table beside the bed. It was so cozy and charming that Lily almost could have gone to sleep right then, but she decided against it.  
  
"Come on, Lily," Jill yelled from the other room. "We're headed straight for the hot tub!"  
  
"I'm so there," she shouted back and she went to change into her suit.  
  
The girls headed out of their room in search for the hot tub. They soon discovered that none of them had even bothered to look up the location of the hot tub and soon they were hopelessly lost, laughing at themselves in front of a map of the hotel.  
  
"So, we've got to find Elevator G," said Bess. "Wherever that is..."  
  
"I think that one's around the corner!" exclaimed Jill and she began skipping off to find the elevator. The rest of the girls followed, ignoring the looks cast upon them by confused tourists. As it turned out, Jill was right and the friends were soon on Elevator G and chatting up a storm.  
  
There was a ding as the sliding doors opened revealing two boys. Lily turned and came face to face with a tall boy with messy hair and hazel eyes that hid behind circular glasses. She knew that unkept hair. She knew that cocky grin. She knew that arrogant boy who stood before her. James Potter was staring at her with shock and excitement.  
  
"Nice bikini, Evans," he said, giving her a wink.  
  
Next to him, Sirius Black was roaring with laughter at Lily's horrified expression. "What are the odds of seeing you here?" he barked.  
  
_Voldemort, kill me now,_ Lily thought to herself as her two least favorite people joined her and her friends in Elevator G.


	2. The Hot Tub

"Lily," whispered Cassie, "do you know him?"  
  
Lily was glaring at James and Sirius who seemed perfectly pleased to see her. James had a huge grin plastered across his face and couldn't contain his excitement.  
  
"So, what are you doing here, darling?" said James as his hand shot up to ruffle his hair.  
  
"Darling?" asked Cassie with raised eyebrows. Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
"No," she responded. "NOT darling. This is James Potter and Sirius Black. We go to school together. I hate them both."  
  
"Hate is a strong word, Lilykins--"  
  
"Shut up, Potter!" yelled Lily. She just couldn't take his attitude. It was bad enough he and his little side-kick were in the same country as her, let alone the same lodge.  
  
"Settle down, Evans," said Sirius, "and introduce us to your lovely friends!"  
  
Jill, Bess, and Cassie wore identical expressions. They looked confused and overwhelmed by the newcomers and weren't certain how these boys got along with their friend. Jill was the first to speak.  
  
"Hi, I'm Jill!"  
  
"Well, hello Jill," replied Sirius as he extended his hand. "You have a nice bo--"  
  
"Bathing suit," said James and he elbowed his friend.  
  
Jill began blushing feverishly and Bess and Cassie giggled in the background. Lily, on the other hand, was about to throw up.

"Bess, Cassie, and Jill, this is James and Sirius. James and Sirius, this is Bess, Cassie, and Jill," introduced Lily. "And now that you've met, you can say goodbye!" The doors had slid open once more allowing the teenagers to leave the elevator. Lily was relived that James and Sirius would be leaving for now, but her heart sank as Bess, the usually quiet girl, spoke up.  
  
"How 'bout you guys come with us to the hot tub," she suggested. James' face lit up.  
  
"Definitely," he said and he gave Lily another flirtatious wink. Sirius and James began to strut off towards their room, but they were stopped by Lily.  
  
"Potter, Black, a word, please?" she asked. She allowed her friends to leave without her and she went to talk with the two boys she hated the most.  
  
"Why are you here?" Lily asked as soon as her friends were out of earshot.  
  
James looked taken aback.  
  
"We're on vacation," said Sirius. "It's not like James is stalking you!"  
  
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time..." said Lily, remembering her third year.  
  
"Hey! I was not stalking you!" defended James.  
  
"You don't call hiding under that bloody cloak and sneaking into the Girls Dormitories stalking?"  
  
"I-- " James started, but he was cut off again.

"Or how about when you found out where I live and came to my house to give me a Christmas present last year!"  
  
James was blushing now, which wasn't something he did very often.  
  
"What about when you stayed up all night in fourth year watching her dot on the map?" Sirius added. James scowled at him, but Lily was confused.  
  
"What map?"  
  
"Uh... map?" asked James.  
  
"Yes," said Lily, "Sirius mentioned a map."  
  
"He said cap."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?"  
  
They stared at each other for a moment, waiting for the other to speak. Finally Sirius broke the silence.  
  
"We're gonna... er... head to our room now... so..." he said while inching backwards down a hallway.  
  
"Wait," said Lily, "there's one more thing I need to tell you."  
  
"I love you, too, Evans, but we should really be getting to our rooms..." said James and for the tenth time his hand shot to his hair to mess it up some more.  
  
"You're impossible, Potter!" yelled Lily.  
  
"Alright, Evans! Don't get your knickers in a bundle..." said Sirius.  
  
Lily glared at the two and crossed her arms. So far, they were ruining her vacation.  
  
"I wanted to tell you that my friends are Muggles, so it would be best to not mention magic or Hogwarts around them."  
  
"Of course, Lily dear," said James. "See you at the hot tub!" He and Sirius headed to their rooms and Lily decided to go and catch up with her friends.  
  
The hot tub was located on a balcony and lily found her friends splashing around and having a good time. She jumped in and instantly relaxed when she hit the boiling water. _Hogwarts should get a hot tub,_ thought Lily, but internally slapped herself for letting her mind wander back to the magical world. _I'm having a Muggle holiday._  
  
"So, Lily," began Jill, "tell us about James and Sirius!"  
  
Lily rolled her eyes. She didn't want to have to think about the boys at the moment.  
  
"I hate them," was all she said.  
  
"Well, you already told us that..." said Bess.  
  
"Sirius is really cute!" said Cassie.  
  
"James, too," added Jill.  
  
Lily couldn't take it anymore. She hoped that once they got to know the Gryffindor boys, they would see that they were just a couple of show-offs who are both far too arrogant for their own good. Maybe, they would come to hate James and Sirius as much as she did...  
  
"Are you guys going out?" asked Bess.  
  
"What?! NO! Of course not!" said Lily, appalled that her friend would even think such a thing.  
  
"Well, he did call you 'Lilykins' and he kept winking at you--"  
  
"No!" Lily exclaimed. "He's just been trying to ask me out since fourth year and..."  
  
"Fourth year?" asked Cassie. "And you've turned him down all this time?"  
  
"And he's still trying?" cut in Jill.  
  
"Yeah, and it's bloody annoying," said Lily.  
  
Their conversation was rudely interrupted as James and Sirius cannon-balled into the little hot tub, sending the water rushing onto the floor.  
  
"Hello, ladies," said Sirius after he had emerged from under the water. "Lovely day for a swim!"  
  
Snow flurries were dancing through the air and floating to the ground, occasionally landing atop someone's head. The warm water made the teenagers forget that the air was brisk and they could see their breath. James had made his way next to Lily and was now attempting to put his arm around her. She gave him the fiercest glare she could muster until he removed his arm from her shoulder.  
  
Sirius was talking with Jill and Bess and Cassie had begun talking with James.  
  
"Wow, you must work out a lot!" she said, glancing down at James' sculpted abs. Lily rolled her eyes but couldn't stop herself from looking at James' torso, too. _He really does work out_ Lily thought, but she quickly looked away and shook the thought from her mind.  
  
"Well, I do play Quid--" James started, but Lily cut him off.  
  
"Football!" said Lily, hoping Cassie wouldn't suspect anything. "He's the goalie."  
  
James had realized his mistake and was silently apologizing to Lily behind Cassie. She would really have to be careful with James and Sirius. They both came from Pureblood families and knew very little about Muggle culture.  
  
After a while, Lily and the others noticed that they were turning into prunes and Bess found the sign that stated: Limit your soak to fifteen minutes. Glancing down at her watch, Lily found that they were thirty minutes over the suggested time.  
  
Sirius was the first to leave the tub.  
  
"I'm gonna take a nice, long shower," he said and James hopped out as well. "Will we see you ladies at dinner?"  
  
Before Lily could say anything, her friends were already suggesting restaurants in the neighborhood.  
  
"How about the Christophe Brazier Buffet?" asked James and everyone agreed.  
  
As Lily watched the boys leave and saw the excited smiles on her friends, she thought to herself, _Maybe this won't be such a bad vacation after all... maybe._


	3. The Buffet

Lily and her friends were quickly getting ready in their rooms. Lily hadn't exactly expected to go out to dinner, so the nicest things she had packed were some jeans and a sweater. She threw on the clothes and went out to meet her friends. Jill was wearing a skirt and Bess had packed a dress. Cassie, like Lily, was wearing jeans and a jacket.  
  
Lily wasn't sure how going to dinner with James and Sirius was going to go and she had to admit, she was a bit nervous. She hoped that James wouldn't try anything stupid tonight. The girls left their room and headed down to the buffet. As they turned down a hall, they came across James, who was wearing jeans and a shirt, and Sirius, who was sporting navy blue wizard robes.  
  
Lily couldn't stop herself from snorting. Sirius was quite a sight to be seen. James quickly turned when he heard Lily and flashed her a grin.  
  
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked.  
  
"You look like an idiot! I tried to tell you," said James as he slapped Sirius' arm. Sirius glared at him and hit him back. Jill and Bess were still laughing at Sirius' outfit and Cassie was trying to contain her giggles.  
  
"You're the ones who look like bloody fools," said Sirius. "Come on, let just go eat." Lily heard him mumble, "Stupid Muggles," as he went passed her and down the hallway.  
  
"Is there something wrong with him?" asked Bess. Lily just laughed.  
  
The others followed him to the Dining Hall, where they saw a large table full of food. Sirius' eyes widened as he saw the mounds of meat, bread, and soup. He knocked over an old Muggle woman in his mad dash to the food.  
  
The meal tasted fantastic and Lily found herself getting seconds of vegetable soup. Everyone talked about sports and television shows that Lily was sure neither James or Sirius had a clue about. It was actually quite amusing seeing Potter and Black trying to nod along with equally confused looks on their faces.  
  
Everything was going fine before James unexpectedly took Lily's hand in his. His hand was smooth and warm, but Lily was too furious at his over-familiarity to care.  
  
"Potter!" she said, slapping his arm with her free hand. He automatically unlocked his fingers and gave her a sideways smile.  
  
"Sorry," he told her, "couldn't help myself...." Sirius shrugged his shoulders and went back to talking with Jill.  
  
 _I guess I can't even have a meal sitting next to Potter without having him make a move on me,_ Lily thought. How hard was it for him to understand that she was not interested? This was exactly the kind of behavior that she was afraid of. Lily thought back to the many times that James had proposed during meals at Hogwarts. What would her friends think if he tried to pull that kind of stunt now?  
  
"So," said Cassie once everyone had gotten dessert, what school _do_ you guys go to?"  
  
Lily froze. Her friends had never really brought up Lily's education. James and Sirius were unsure what to say, so Lily stepped in, thinking fast.  
  
"We go to Hogwarts," Lily stated cautiously and she saw the boys' eyes widening. "It's a school for the fine arts."  
  
Across the table, Sirius spit out his water in surprise. James' mouth was hanging open as though he was going to say something, but no words came out. Lily just smiled sweetly at her friends as if she hadn't even noticed the boys' reactions.  
  
"Oh, I didn't realize you went to an art school!" said Jill.  
  
"Neither did I," James muttered so only Lily could hear. She smirked at him and went back to her friend.  
  
"Oh, yes," Lily told Jill, "I've been studying painting for about two years now. Sirius, over here, does theater. That's where he got that outfit he's wearing."  
  
James was now laughing into his napkin and Sirius had a look of disgust and hatred on his face. It looked, to Lily, that he was resisting the strong urge to punch her in the nose. She knew that look, for it was the look she gave James Potter almost daily back at school.  
  
"And what do you study, James?" asked Cassie.  
  
"I... um... well, I study..." James stuttered. He looked to Lily for help. _Bad idea, Potter._  
  
"Potter is into ballet," said Lily matter-of-factly.  
  
"He looks dashing in tights," added Sirius with a grin before James could protest.  
  
"I DON"T DANCE!" shouted James who was now a brilliant shade of dark pink. He crossed his arms and sunk into his chair as Lily's friends giggled.  
  
"Come off it, guys," said Lily. She decided to give James something better to study. The image of him in a leotard was too much to bear. "He really takes photography classes."  
  
"Thank you," James mouthed after giving a sigh of relief.  
  
"And you're on the football team, James?" asked Jill.  
  
"They aren't very good, though," Sirius butted in. "They've only beaten one other team: St. Dementors."  
  
"St. Dementors?"  
  
"It's the insane asylum a few blocks down."  
  
"You play them?"  
  
James began choking on his ice cream, so Lily hit him hard on the back. Tears were welling up in his eyes from laughing so hard. Dinner was proving to be quite a bit of fun.  
  
By the end of the night, everyone ate so much that Lily felt as though she was never going to be able to eat again. Lily, Cassie, Bess, Jill, James, and Sirius said goodnight and headed off towards their own rooms.  
  
"Does he always look at you that way?" asked Cassie once they were in their rooms.  
  
"Who, Potter?"  
  
"Of course!"  
  
"What way do you mean?"  
  
"You know, he looks at you as though you're the most interesting girl in the world," she shrugged and headed into her bedroom. "G'night Lily."  
  
"Night," said Lily softly. She laid down on her bed and reached over to turn off the lamp.  
  
"The most interesting girl in the world?" Lily whispered to herself, a smile creeping onto her face, before closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.


	4. The Ski Lift

* _"I don't need help from filthy Mudbloods like her!" Severus' eyes were cold and he wore an expression of hatred and embarrassment._  
  
Lily woke up with a beam of light shining directly into her eyes. The aching pain in the pit of her stomach that came along with this frequent dream was pushed aside by excitement. She couldn't wait to begin skiing and got ready in record time. It wasn't until after she was finished with breakfast that any of her friends made it out of their rooms.  
  
"Good morning, Sunshine," said a sleepy Cassie. She was still in her pajamas with her hair thrown lazily in a bun.  
  
"It's seven-thirty!" exclaimed Lily. "Why aren't you dressed?"  
  
"Why _are_ you?"  
  
There was a pop and Cassie went to retrieve her now toasted bagel.  
  
Lily greeted Bess and Jill as they made their way to the kitchen and prepared meals for themselves. They returned her greetings half-heartily and Lily wondered if anyone was even remotely excited to start skiing.  
  
"I'm gonna finish getting ready," declared Lily and she headed off to her room.  
  
She pulled on her snow pants and jacket and went to look for her mittens. She wrapped her gold and maroon Gryffindor scarf around her neck and topped off her outfit with a green helmet. Lily was definitely ready for skiing.  
  
Lily plopped herself down on the couch as she waited for her friends to get ready.  
  
"Hey, Lily?" asked Jill from her bedroom. "Are we meeting up with James and Sirius?"  
  
"No," was Lily's automatic response. She didn't want Potter and Black slowing them down. End of story.  
  
"Why not?" whined Bess from the bathroom.  
  
"Come on, Lils," said Cassie. "They're nice."  
  
"Yeah, they are real charming," said Lily sarcastically, rolling her eyes. All three girls had now joined her in the living room.  
  
"Please, Lily?" asked Cassie who was now giving Lily puppy-dog eyes.  
  
"Fine," said Lily as she gave a sigh of defeat. She crossed her arms and listened to the girls talking cheerfully about how much fun the day would be now that the handsome Sirius Black and adorable James Potter were joining them.  
  
"How about someone goes down and fetches them?" suggested Jill after a while. Bess, Jill, and Cassie all turned to look at Lily who glared back at them.  
  
"Don't look at me," she said angrily. "I don't even want them to come."  
  
"But Lily," said Cassie, "you're the one who knows them!"  
  
"I don't want to go!" said Lily who was now standing to face her friends. Bess walked to the door and opened it, but Lily wouldn't budge.  
  
"Fine," said Cassie, "I guess we'll just have to force you." At that, the two girls pushed and shoved Lily until she was in the hallway and the door was slammed in her face.  
  
"I'M GONNA BLOODY KILL YOU!" shouted Lily, half laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, and she punched the door as hard as she could. This was a bad idea, however, because now her knuckles were fairly sore.  
  
Lily's pants swished with each step she took as she sulked down the hallway towards the boys' room. As she reached her destination, she lifted a hand and knocked on their door. No answer. She banged her fist on the door, this time with more force. Still, no answer. Lily had little to no patients and found herself kicking the door, hoping for a response from the other end. She nearly lost it when there was, yet again, no answer.  
  
"Let me in this blasted door or I'll hex you!" she shouted after making sure no Muggles were lingering about.  
  
"You're not allowed to do magic outside of school, Evans," the smooth voice of Sirius Black replied.  
  
"Just open the door," Lily said coldly.  
  
"Password?"  
  
"You're not the Fat Lady, Black," sneered Lily who was now very fed-up and in a terrible mood.  
  
The door swung open to reveal Sirius and a snickering James in the background. Lily scowled at them both as she entered.  
  
"In case you were wondering, the password was 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,'" said Sirius, a grin across his face.  
  
"What kind of password is that?" asked Lily.  
  
"A good one," replied James. "Lovely morning, Evans?"  
  
"Brilliant," she said sarcastically and she rolled her eyes at him. "My friends wanted to know if you wanted to ski with us."  
  
"Of course!" exclaimed Sirius happily. He shot James an _I-told-you-so_ look that Lily pretended not to see.  
  
"And how have your mornings been?" asked Lily, not wanting to be rude anymore.  
  
"Mine was stellar," James said cheerfully as he laced up his boot. "Ready to go?"  
  
She nodded at him and walked out the door as he held it open for her, letting it go just in time to hit Sirius in the face. James didn't hear Sirius curse loudly though, because he was too busy escorting Lily down the halls. Sirius just sighed and ran to catch up to his best friend.  
  
Lily's bitterness was almost completely forgotten as they stepped outside. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day and the mountains looked perfect.  
  
"Aren't you guys excited to start skiing?" asked Lily as she basked in the sunlight. It wasn't very cold either.  
  
"Oh," said James, "we aren't skiing."  
  
Lily gave him a confused look.  
  
"We're snowboarding!" finished Sirius. "I can't wait! I've never played a Muggle sport before, but Jamsie here tells me it's just superb." He then began skipping towards the ski shop where they would be renting their equipment.  
  
"Do you think he'll be all right?" Lily asked James.  
  
"Of course he will; he's a Marauder!"  
  
****  
  
It was two hours later and everyone was on top of the smallest bunny hill. Lily and her friends were experienced skiers and James didn't hesitate to brag about his snowboarding experience. It was Sirius who they were worried about.  
  
Sirius' eyes were wide with fear under his goggles. It was a miracle that he was even standing.  
  
"It's okay," Cassie told him. "It's not so hard!"  
  
"Just do exactly what I do," said James and he slowly started down the hill.  
  
With a little help, Sirius started down the run. At the first turn, he managed to copy James, but he couldn't change directions the second time. He started heading straight down the side of the mountain, unable to control himself. The rest of the girls followed after him, trying to catch up with little success.  
  
After nearly hitting a tree, Sirius toppled to the ground, his snowboard flying out from below him. But instead of coming to a stop, he continued rolling down the hill, knocking down small children in his path. Lily pictured Sirius as a magnificent human snowball as he kept tumbling down the mountain with no sign of stopping.  
  
Finally, he slowed down as the hill ended and at last, came to a stop. James and Lily helped Sirius up and led him to the closest bench.  
  
"I think you need some lessons, mate," said James as he patted Sirius on the back. Once Sirius had recovered, the boys and girls stood up and headed to the front desk.  
  
"No adult classes?" asked Sirius. The women behind the desk nodded her head.  
  
"We don't have any available at the moment, but there is still room in the children's classes if you would like," she said, looking apologetic.  
  
"Sure," said James. "Sign him up." Sirius looked defeated.  
  
"The class starts in ten minutes at the bottom of this hill. Here is your pass." The lady handed him a bright orange pass that said CHILD in bold letters and had a smiley face drawn below it. Lily had to stop herself from laughing out loud.  
  
James thanked the woman and they headed to the bottom of the hill.  
  
"Orange beginners over here!" called a man holding a snowboard. A group of young kids were gathering around him, all wearing the orange pass. The oldest was probably seven years old. Before Sirius had a chance to escape, James and Lily grabbed him by the arms and pulled him over to his beginners' class.  
  
"All right, Padfoot," started James, using Sirius' nickname that Lily never quite understood, "you'll be good now, won't you?"  
  
"Don't fight with the other children and remember your manners," Lily told him with a smile. Sirius just scowled at them both as Jill, Cassie, and Bess giggled behind them.  
  
"Why are you so tall?" asked a whiny kid as the group headed towards the ski-lift.  
  
"It's because I'm a giant, _you little prat...._ "  
  
As they walked over to Lift Ten, Lily spotted a sign that read: "Three to a chair."  
  
"I volunteer to sit with dear Lily!" said James as he wrapped his arm around Lily's shoulders.  
  
She jabbed him in the side with her elbow and hissed, "You better not try anything, Potter." James just gave her a lopsided smile, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to the lift. She gave her giggling friends one last angry look before she and James were whisked away by the chair.  
  
"Enjoying the view, Evans?" asked James. They were now soaring over evergreen trees and other skiers riding down the mountains.  
  
"Mmm-hmm...," she replied. She still could not believe that she was stuck on a ski lift with _Potter_. She looked over at him and he was smiling pleasantly and singing the Hogwarts song under his breath.  
  
"Nooo..." Lily groaned as she spotted another sign that said, "15 minutes from here to the top." James, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying her misery. _This must be the longest ski-lift here,_ thought Lily. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, by a shout from below. Someone had wiped out on the mountain and was having a difficult time locating their pole.  
  
"Not the best skier, eh?" said James with a chuckle.  
  
"Oh, and I'm sure you're so great," said Lily, a little irritated now.  
  
"I'm actually a fantastic skier," James said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Your head is too big for your own good, Potter," said Lily and she frowned at him.  
  
"It's not that big..." said James, looking a bit offended now.  
  
"You think you're so great! You never miss an opportunity to hex somebody to show your mates how great you are!'' Lily felt her anger boiling up inside her.  
  
"Hey! I hardly ever hex anyone any more--" started James, but Lily cut him off.  
  
"I haven't forgotten what you did to Sev last year. You made him so upset that he called me a Mudblood."  
  
"Wait a second," said James, "I didn't make him call you that." Lily looked as though she wanted to argue, but he continued anyway. "Yes, I take responsibility for going a little too far with that hex... but you can't blame Snape's bigotry on me.''  
  
"That's why I wanted to get away from home," Lily said quietly after a minute of silence. "Sev and I used to hang out together every summer. He was the only one I could talk to about magic and Hogwarts." James was listening intently and let her go on. "We aren't exactly friends anymore, so I didn't want to... to..."  
  
"Have to be reminded of him," James finished and Lily didn't even flinch when he held her hand. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You really shouldn't be."  
  
There was another awkward silence as they continued up the side of the mountain. After what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, James spoke up.  
  
"Would you jump off here?" he asked.   
  
"I'm not sure what you're asking," Lily replied truthfully.  
  
"If Voldemort himself were hanging to the ski-lift, his wand pointing at you, would you jump off?"  
  
"If You-Know-Who was pointing his wand at me I would use _expelliarmus_ and then push him off." Lily told him.  
  
"That wasn't the question," said James, a slanted smile on his face. "Where would you jump off?"  
  
"Not here. There are too many rocks and I wouldn't want to crack my skull open."  
  
"How about up ahead a little?"  
  
"It's definitely close enough to the ground, but there is a chance of hitting that tree...."  
  
The two spent the rest of the time determining the best spots to jump off the lift and before they knew it, they were at the top of the mountain.  
  
"Lets go!" said Jill once they had positioned themselves at the top of the slope.  
  
They spent the entire day skiing down difficult runs and by the time they called it quits, they only had three wipe-outs and one incident that involved James running into a tree.  
  
When they reached the bottom of the bunny hill to pick up Sirius, they found him surrounded by little kids. A small girl was holding his hand and another was throwing snowballs at him. A boy was hanging onto Sirius' jacket and being pulled behind him, while another boy, who could be his twin, was jogging to keep up as he carried a snowboard in his little arms.  
  
"How was your lesson?" James asked Sirius.  
  
"He fell on his face a lot," piped in one of the twins. "He wasn't very good...."  
  
Lily and the girls laughed as Sirius scowled at the kid.  
  
"I'd like to see him try to play Quidditch," he said just loud enough for James and Lily to hear. "And I was just fine, thank-you-very-much."  
  
The friends went back to the Christophe Brazier and said goodbye before going their separate ways. Once Lily got into her room, she headed straight for her bed and was so tired that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Today had surpisinglybeen fun and she couldn't wait for what tomorrow would bring.  
  
  
*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling, Page: 648


	5. The Hot Chocolate Social

At eight in the morning, Lily heard a knock on her bedroom door. She looked over to her clock and realized that she had slept through her alarm and now, there was someone at her door. Thinking it was Cassie, she slid out of her comfortable bed and went to answer the knocks.  
  
"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" asked Lily as she swung the door open to reveal a boy with messy hair and a lop-sided grin. Lily nearly screamed.  
  
"Good morning, darling," said James happily as he gave Lily a one-armed hug and handed her a cup of coffee.  
  
"Get off of me!" said Lily. She was furious that her friends would let Potter into their room, but she was even more enraged at the fact that James would even consider knocking on her bedroom door in the first place. She longed to be at Hogwarts where the boys weren't even allowed in the girls' dorms.  
  
"What are you even doing here?" Lily asked while she tried to break loose from James' grip. At that moment, Sirius walked through the door singing some sort of bizarre song that Lily supposed he must have made up himself.  
  
"Group hug!" he exclaimed and ran over to lock them in a tight embrace. He squeezed the two so hard that Lily was turning blue from lack of oxygen.  
  
"Let... go... Black...!" Lily wheezed between breaths.  
  
He finally let go to let a laughing James and enraged Lily breathe.  
  
"Why are you two here?" asked Lily at last, her hands on her hips.  
  
"We have come to take the lovely ladies to breakfast in the dining hall down stairs," said Sirius formally.  
  
"You should probably change," added James. "Unless you want to show up in your boxer shorts." He gave her one last wink before he closed the door behind him.  
  
Lily screamed into her pillow for a good thirty-seconds before changing into her ski clothes and meeting everyone in the kitchen.  
  
"All right," said James, "now that everybody's here, let's get going!"  
  
The group was seated at a circular table that was similar to the one they ate at a few nights before.  
  
"So, will you be allowed to snowboard with the big kids today, Sirius?" asked Cassie cheerily.  
  
"Ha ha," said Sirius and he rolled his eyes at her.  
  
"We're really proud of you, buddy," said James with a fake high-pitched voice. "We really are."  
  
"You're growing up so fast.... And guess what guys?" said Lily. "Our little Sirius is wearing pull-ups now!" Cassie, Bess, and Jill started laughing, but Lily could tell by James and Sirius' blank expressions that neither of them had the slightest clue what pull-ups were.  
  
It wasn't until everybody had ordered and begun eating when Lily spotted the blue sign hanging on the wall.  
  
"Hot chocolate social at seven-thirty tonight in the dining hall. Come to socialize with other guests and enjoy hot beverages," read Lily out loud to the table. It sounded like fun and possibly a way to get away from James and Sirius for a night....  
  
"Wanna be my date, Evans?" asked James who had sat next to her.  
  
"I'd rather go with the Giant Squid, Potter," Lily said angrily back. It was her usual retort and not very original, but it was true... mostly. James looked disappointed, but he hadn't truly expected anything more.  
  
"The Giant Squid?" asked Jill from across the table.  
  
 _Oh, Merlin,_ thought Lily. _What was I thinking? Giant Squid.... How am I going to get out of this one?_  
  
"It's an expression," piped up James. "At our school, there's this painting of a woman kissing a huge squid even though there's a man right next to her. Under it is a caption that says, 'I Choose the Squid.'"  
  
"Yeah, it's a really famous painting...," added Sirius. "You may have heard of the artist, Harry R. M. Pitts."  
  
Jill, Bess, and Cassie just stared at Sirius with confused looks on their faces.  
  
"That's what we should name our first born," James whispered to Lily.  
  
"Go soak your head, Potter," Lily hissed back.  
  
"So, seven-thirty?" Sirius asked Cassie. "You, me, and hot chocolate." He winked at Cassie immediately making her blush.  
  
"Okay," she replied with a huge grin on her face.  
  
Jill and Bess looked happy for their friend, but Lily could also see a bit of jealousy in their smiles.  
  
"Then I call James!" said Jill, quickly.  
  
"Sorry, but I'm taken."  
  
"But Lily said no!"  
  
"Yeah, I said no!"  
  
"See?"  
  
"See what?"  
  
"All right, everybody shut it!" said Lily. "This social is to meet _new_ people. You don't need dates!"  
  
Jill looked disappointed and Lily heard James mumble something that sounded a lot like, "You'll come around, Evans...."  
  
***  
  
Sirius had decided to join the group today instead of going with the little kids, so they were stuck doing the easier runs. They didn't mind though.  
  
"Sirius, if you were going any slower, you'd be snowboarding backwards!" shouted James. Everybody had already reached the bottom of the hill and were now waiting for Sirius who was still about halfway up the mountain.  
  
Once Sirius had finally made it to the bottom, the group headed over to the ski lifts. Much to Lily's dismay, she ended up on a lift with James and Sirius. She threw one last snowball at her friends before getting on the chair.  
  
"How am I doing?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Um... you're doing...," started Lily. She didn't know how to tell him how awful he really was.  
  
"You suck, mate."  
  
"Thanks, Prongs," said Sirius with a sneer. "Give me a break though. My parents never let me do Muggle stuff."  
  
"How come they let you come then?" asked Lily. The Black family was obsessed with their blood status and hated Muggles and Muggle-borns. The whole lot of them were in Slytherin, except for Sirius. He was treated horribly at his home because he was in Gryffindor. Lily doubted that Sirius had ever done muggle activities before in his life.  
  
"They didn't," said Sirius simply. "Well, they did say I could go to Albania. If they knew I was at a Muggle ski resort they would probably _crucio_ me."  
  
Lily imagined Sirius' parents, both with his grey eyes and dark hair, waiting with their wands out for him at the front door. Ready to torture their own son. She shuttered at the thought.  
  
The rest of the day went mainly like the last, except much slower. They decided to call it quits when Sirius went off the double green track onto a back diamond. It took him thirty-five minutes to climb back up the side of the steep mountain with one foot still stuck in the snowboard.  
  
"I saw my life flash before my eyes!" recounted Sirius back in the girls' room.  
  
Cassie was hanging to his every word.  
  
"Look at the time!" said James suddenly, interrupting Sirius' story. It was almost time for the Hot Chocolate Social and nobody had even changed out of their ski clothes. Once the boys left to their own rooms, the girls quickly got ready.  
  
Lily decided to wear jeans and a sweater and to put her red hair into braids. She reminded herself of the Muggle story, _Pippie Longstockings_ , that her mother read to her when she was younger.  
  
Once Cassie had picked out the perfect date outfit, they headed to the dining hall. They met the boys halfway down (Sirius was thankfully not wearing dress robes this time) and made their way to the party.  
  
It wasn't very large, but there were a handful of people of all ages drinking hot chocolate and talking with each other.  
  
Lily, Jill, and Bess went to the food and drink table to get some refreshments.  
  
"Excuse me," someone with a French accent behind Lily said. She turned around to see a boy who was about two years older than herself smiling at her. He had sandy hair, bright blue eyes, and a perfect smile.  
  
"Hi, I'm Jim. I saw you come in and, well, I thought you were really pretty...," Jim was blushing now and Lily felt her own cheeks redden too. "I guess I just wanted to say--"  
  
"Back off, buddy!" cut in James as he put his arm protectively around Lily's shoulders.  
  
"I'm... I'm so sorry... I didn't know you had-," Jim stuttered as he backed away slowly. "If I had known... I didn't mean to... sorry." James glared at him until he had made his way back to his friends.  
  
"Well, now that that's solved..."  
  
"Potter! You had no business doing that!" Lily shouted as she wriggled out of his grip. "You're an obnoxious, immature, annoying...."  
  
"If you can't have him, I will!" cut in Jill, who immediately headed over to where Jim and his friends were talking.  
  
There was silence as James and Lily glared at each other until Bess spoke up.  
  
"I'll go help Jill," she said uncomfortably and she left the two to their glare-off.  
  
"Don't you go anywhere, Potter," Lily hissed as James began to inch backwards. "How could you do that? Were you not thinking about my feelings? What about Jim's? No! All you care about is yourself! I've actually been enjoying spending time with you the last couple of days- which obviously is insane-" Lily saw James' eyes flash for a moment, but she was too in the heat of her argument to stop now. "But you're the same James Potter you've always been. You arrogant, pathetic, self-centered, jerk-face--"  
  
All of the sudden James leaned in and kissed her and she didn’t stop him. Lily was absolutely stunned. It was short, but enough to leave her speechless. James was grinning, or possibly laughing, most likely from the look of shock on Lily's face.  
  
"Jerk-face?" he said finally, his own cheeks turning rosy. "Come on Evans, you can do better than that." His hand shot to his head to mess up his hair before he took one last look at her and made his way to find Sirius, leaving Lily planted to the floor, unable to move.  
  
 _What just happened?_ she thought, her chest fluttering as she watched him walk away with a bit more spring in his step.


	6. The Warming Hut

After the events of the previous night, Lily quickly left the social event and went back to her room. For hours she simply laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what James had done. Before she had drifted off to sleep, she came to the conclusion that James had only kissed her to shut her up. Why else would he do such a thing?  
  
 _What am I thinking?_ Lily asked herself after hours of contemplating the issue. This was James Potter. He had been making moves on her since the third year. Sure, he had tried to kiss her before, but the difference between now and then is the fact that she let him. _I saw that look in his eye... why didn't I slap him? Push him away? I've had no problem swatting at Potter in the past!_  
  
After what felt like no time, Lily awoke to the smell of bacon seeping under her door and decided to join her friends for some breakfast. Throwing her hair into a messy bun, Lily shuffled into the kitchen and plopped herself down in the nearest whicker chair. "What's cooking?" she asked Bess, who was hovering over a simmering pan.  
  
"Oh, I'm making omelets," she responded. "You want one?"  
  
Lily nodded happily and went to retrieve a plate and a fork. She glanced over to the window expecting to see the familiar bright blue skies, but instead she let out a moan as she saw dark clouds hanging in the dreary sky.  
  
"Ugh is right," said Jill from behind Lily.  
  
"So, when are we meeting Sirius and James?" asked a sleepy Cassie who had just joined the others. Like Lily, her hair was in a messy bun and she had yet to change out of her PJs.  
  
The events from last night that Lily had just started to ignore rushed back to her after hearing Potter's name. She would have to face James today. It would be awkward and weird and she hadn't the slightest clue what to say. Should she ignore him? Should she confront him? Oh, it was all so confusing and Lily found herself trying desperately to just concentrate on the eggs before her.  
  
"Is something wrong, Lily? You seem awfully quiet this morning," said Jill.  
  
"Nothing happened!" she said back, a little too quickly, and made her way back to her room to change. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she was horrified to see that she was blushing. For the millionth time that morning, Lily's thoughts strayed to James and that bloody kiss.  
  
She violently shook her head in a desperate attempt to rid her mind of the poisonous thoughts. It didn't work. Lily sighed, quickly changed into her ski clothes, and headed back to her friends.  
  
When she got to the kitchen, she found the girls circled around a bit of paper. As she got closer, Lily noticed it was a phone number.  
  
"Should I call him? Would that seem too desperate?" squealed Jill. Lily's eyes widened as she looked at the number. Could this possibly be Jim's? Terror rushed through Lily as she thought of Jill calling Jim up and having him come along with them. The embarrassment! The humility!  
  
"Hey," said Lily, trying her best to stay cool, "whose number is this?"  
  
"Its Danny's!" said Jill. "He's one of the French boys!"  
  
Okay, it wasn't Jim. But one of his friends wasn't much better....  
  
"Call him up, already!" said Cassie. She was now bouncing up and down with excitement for her friend.  
  
Lily quickly snuck away, making the excuse that she had to brush her teeth for the second time. No one paid her much attention as she slipped away.  
  
Back in the bathroom, Lily picked up her toothbrush. It couldn't hurt to brush her teeth again, right? Lily's aunt was a dentist, so she knew the importance of teeth care and got to work. Lily was having a fine time as she brushed her teeth with one hand and played with her hair with the other. Then, she felt a tickling sensation on her arm. She let out a screech as she spotted a hairy spider crawling up her forearm. In her mad attempt to get it off, she sent her toothbrush flying across the bathroom and into the toilet.  
  
Lily groaned as she stared down at her poor toothbrush. It was now floating in the water in a disgusting manner. Grudgingly, she stuck her hand in the toilet and pulled it out. Trying not to let it drip all over the tile, she tossed it in the bin.  
  
"I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet and I'm going to go to the gift shop to get a new one," she informed her friends before heading out the door. She doubted that any of them had heard her. They were all circled up around the phone and most likely talking to Danny.  
  
The elevator doors opened up to show the Lobby and Lily made her way to the gift shop. She stopped abruptly when she heard two familiar voices from just up ahead. Except they weren't quite right. _Would that be considered German?_ Lily wondered as she continued walking.  
  
"I vas just vondering if zee room service served schnitzel!" Potter was shouting at a poor man behind the Guest Services desk.  
  
Sirius was next to him, snickering uncontrollably.  
  
"Immature," Lily said to herself as she rolled her eyes, ignoring the fluttering sensation slowly growing in her stomach.  
  
"Come on and stop terrorizing this poor man, Potter," she scolded as she pulled him away from the desk by his sleeve. Sirius followed them, still laughing to himself.  
  
"Well hey, Evans," said James as his hand shot to his hair. He gave her a flirtatious wink.  
  
Her stomach did a flip-flop, but she quickly shoved the feeling away.  
  
"Why must you be so juvenile?"   
  
"Oh, that was just, you know... I was just trying out a German accent," he said, cheerily.  
  
 _He seems so unfazed by what happened last night,_ Lily thought. _I would have expected him to at least mention it!_  
  
"It's not all that great or anything, but I think that guy fell for it...," James trailed off. Lily wasn't even paying attention to what he was saying anymore.  
  
"That's not important. Could I speak to you for a moment? Privately?" she added, noticing Sirius catching up.  
  
James winked at her again. "Sure!"  
  
Before Lily could even begin, James spoke up.  
  
"Is this about last night?" he asked with a crooked grin.  
  
"In fact, it is," said Lily, hotly. "I just wanted to confirm that you only _kissed_ me because you wanted to shut me up." As soon as she said it, Lily knew she didn't sound convincing, but she had to stand her ground. James looked amused and as though he very much wanted to interrupt her again. She had to continue. "I also wanted to inform you that the only reason I didn't slap you into oblivion is because I was too angry."  
  
"Let me get this straight," he said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "you think, first of all, that I kissed you for no other reason then to shut you up? Dear, dear, Evans... how long have you known me? I've been wanting- and trying- to do that for quite some time now!"  
  
"But... but...," Lily stammered, but James continued.  
  
"You can believe whatever you want, but I think we both know the truth." He winked at her again. "And secondly, you were too angry to slap me? Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. You seem quite all right with whacking me around whenever you got the chance back at school... What happened? Gasp! Wait... it can't be... No!" There was a look of amazement on James' face as he stared down at her, grinning.  
  
"What are you getting at, Potter?" she asked as she glared at him, not breaking eye contact despite the blush she felt creeping up on her cheeks.  
  
"You've fallen in love with me!"  
  
"What? Of course I haven't!" Lily stammered.  
  
"It's all right, you're just in denial," said James, confidently as he put his arm around her shoulders.  
  
"I am NOT!" Lily pushed him away from her. She was burning up with what _must_ be hatred, furious with Potter for even suggesting something so inconceivable. She was becoming hot with anger, or maybe she was blushing... he was just inches from her face, now.  
  
She found herself staring into his hazel eyes and for a moment, Lily forgot her argument.  
  
"See," he said, "you're getting lost in my eyes. My charm has finally worked!"  
  
"You're so full of it!" said Lily, stubbornly as she came back to reality and pushed James away from her once more.  
  
"You love me!" said James, his smile growing bigger by the second.  
  
"In your dreams!" Lily quickly spat back.  
  
"Just admit it!"  
  
"No! I have nothing to tell you!"  
  
They had finally met up with Sirius who was lounging on a sofa.  
  
"It's okay, darling, you'll come around," said James, giving her yet another wink.  
  
"Do you have a twitch?" Lily said, coldly. They sat down next to Sirius on the large sofa.  
  
"What's up, mate?" asked Sirius, who was rather confused by the current conversation.  
  
"We're in love!" James said and he jumped up for dramatic effect.  
  
"We are not!" Lily said and she too jumped up to face James.  
  
"What did I miss?" asked Sirius who jumped up as well because he was feeling quite small and unimportant, being the only one sitting.  
  
"Potter here has convinced himself that I'm in love with him," said Lily.  
  
"What would make you think that?" Sirius asked James, his eyebrow raised and questioning.  
  
Lily quickly grabbed James and turned him around for a brief conference.  
  
"You didn't tell Sirius about what happened last night?" she asked him, very surprised.  
  
"I don't kiss and tell, Evans," he responded, a little too genuinely for Lily's comfort.  
  
"Hmm," she said and abruptly told them goodbye and that she would see them on the slopes.  
  
They seemed slightly frazzled by her sudden change in mood, but waved goodbye anyway. The look of confusion had not yet left Sirius' face, but James just shrugged his shoulders and left Sirius in the Lobby as he went to change into his snowsuit.  
  
***  
  
They were all waiting at the bottom of lift ten. Lily, Cassie, Jill, Bess, James, and Sirius were standing in a circle in hopes to stay warm. Due to the clouds, the sun was blocked and the rays of warmth were now a distant memory.  
  
"What are we waiting for again?" asked Sirius as he hugged Cassie for warmth.  
  
"We're waiting for Danny and his friends to meet us," said Jill. She craned her neck to try to find Danny in the crowd. "I see him! I can see him!"  
  
The group turned their heads to see Danny, Jim, and a couple other boys coming their way.  
  
"That guy?" said James with a sneer.  
  
 _Oh Merlin,_ Lily thought. With everything that had happened that morning, she had almost forgotten Jim and James' run-in the night before. She quickly spun around so that Jim couldn't see her and began having a conversation with Bess.  
  
"I'm gonna show him not to mess with James Potter," mumbled James, menacingly.  
  
"Oh no you won't," said Lily and she grabbed James before he could get any closer to Jim.  
  
"Come on! That guy's a prat," said James. He was still scowling at Jim, but it seemed like he wasn't going to do any harm.  
  
"Jim is perfectly fine! It's not a crime to introduce yourself to someone. Especially someone who's SINGLE," Lily retorted back. "If anyone's a prat, that would be you for obvious reasons."  
  
"Just keep talking, Evans, but you know my favorite way to shut you up," he said and his hand shot up to his head to ruffle his hair. The only problem was that he was wearing his helmet. So, instead of messing up his hair, he just jammed his fingers on the hard outer shell of his helmet and goggles.  
  
"Ha!" Lily laughed dryly and she turned to make her way to the ski lift, James following close behind.  
  
The others followed suit and joined them in the line. In all of the hustle and bustle, Lily found herself in between Bess and none other than Jim.  
  
It was the most awkward silence that Lily had ever been apart of. Bess sat in the middle and didn't say much. She was extremely shy around most boys and so she preferred staying quite in situations like this.  
  
Lily focused all her attention on the passing trees and didn't dare look at Jim, in fear that they would make eye contact.  
  
"Um, Lily?" Jim said after a few miserable minutes of dead silence. "I'm sorry, again, about last night. I didn't mean to get in the way with you and your boyfriend."  
  
"He's not my boyfriend," Lily replied, bitterly.  
  
"Then why did--" Jim started.  
  
"I don't know." Lily went back to staring at the scenery and the other two sat quietly until they got off the lift.  
  
"Did that Jim character give you any trouble?" asked James as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
"Shut up, Potter," Lily said. She had no patience for James at the moment.  
  
As the group was halfway down the run, the wind and snow started picking up. They were near the top of the mountain, so the temperature was even colder and the wind was even fiercer. Poor Sirius was having a very difficult time keeping up with the group.  
  
He had felt like a Gryffindor that morning; feeling like he could tackle anything. Now, he wasn't quite so sure. As he saw the sharp turns up ahead, he shivered... and not from the cold.  
  
"Hey guys," Sirius started, "does anyone want to stop for a second?"  
  
Lily, James, Bess, and Jim were the only ones who heard, but Jim quickly pretended like he hadn't and took off down the mountain again at top speed.  
  
"I actually have to go to the bathroom, so that sounds good," said Lily.  
  
After hearing Lily's decision, James decided that he was in the mood for some hot chocolate and chose to come along, too.  
  
"I'm fine," said Bess. "I'll just go tell the others where you're going. We'll meet you at the bottom of lift ten, okay?"  
  
They nodded their heads and said goodbye before heading down the alternative path to the warming hut. Once there, Lily kicked off her skis and headed for the bathrooms and James and Sirius went inside.  
  
Once finished with the rather disgusting bathroom, Lily met the boys inside and was delighted to see that they had bought her a hot chocolate, too. She took off her helmet and sipped her beverage slowly.  
  
"So, is the run too hard for you, Black?" teased Lily and James laughed along. Sirius just smirked at her and went back to sipping his drink.  
  
"I would like some back-up every once in a while, Prongs," said Sirius to his friend.  
  
"You know I'm here for you, Padfoot," James said back.  
  
 _Again with the nicknames!_ Lily thought. They were very odd names, too. Padfoot and Prongs? She also knew that Peter was Wormtail and Remus was Moony. But what did they mean? The first thing Lily thought of were animals. Padfoot could possibly mean wolf or dog. Prongs would be a dear or maybe a moose. Wormtail could mean worm or possibly mouse.... And Moony. This one confused her the most. Moony sounded like moon, but what would that mean?  
  
"What do your nicknames mean?" Lily blurted out.  
  
There was a flash of fear in Sirius' grey eyes that went unnoticed by Lily.  
  
"They're our patronuses," James said, quickly.  
  
"Mmm..." Lily said as she took a larger gulp of hot chocolate. And then something she had bee mulling over for years finally clicked. "Guys? I have a question about Remus."  
  
She noticed James and Sirius exchanging nervous glances and she continued.  
  
"You know, he is always missing school about... once a month. And his nickname is Moony, like the moon. I was just wondering, and I'm sorry if I'm making unfair assumptions, but is Remus... a werewolf?"  
  
The boys looked unsure of how to answer her and so they said nothing at all.  
  
"That must be horrible for him," said Lily after it was clear that neither of the two were going to speak anytime soon. "It does explain a lot, though. He was always missing patrol last year and he's always getting sick or visiting relatives. When was he bitten?"  
  
"When he was six," James finally said.  
  
"Don't tell a soul," said Sirius, seriously.  
  
"And don't look at him any differently. He's still the same Remus Lupin you've always known," James added in.  
  
"I know," Lily said and she took one final gulp of hot chocolate.  
  
***  
  
The three were back on the mountain and going slow for Sirius' sake. They decided to go into the Enchanted Forest run because it was the fastest rout to the bottom of lift ten and also a favorite of Lily's.  
  
There were plenty of bumps that were fun to jump over and the trees proved to be great obstacles. Sirius had a few minor problems, but so far he had only run into a tree once.  
  
"Hurry up Padfoot!" called James. He and Lily were far ahead and Sirius lagged behind.  
  
Lily leaned on her pole as she waited for Black to catch up. _Maybe it wasn't the brightest ideas to bring him down a double blue,_ she thought. She chuckled as she heard his curses echo through the trees in the distance.  
  
"So, Lily, my love, where do you want the wedding to be?" asked James with an exaggerated grin.  
  
"Shut up, Potter," she retorted and began to poke him with her pole. He pretended not to notice and continued talking.  
  
"The Hogwarts grounds? France? We could have it in Australia!" Lily rolled her eyes and let him continue babbling on to himself. Usually she didn't find his teasing that endearing...  
  
She looked back one last time, glad to see the clumsy figure of Sirius Black making his way towards them. But it was the figure lurking behind him that caught her eye.  
  
"James," she said and he quickly looked up, surprised at hearing her use his first name, "we need to get out of here."


	7. The Man in the Mask

Sirius dramatically dragged his snowboard behind him with each step he took.  
  
Lily stood frozen with fear. A tall cloaked figure was gracefully gliding in and out of trees. However, Lily couldn't see any skis. James was still staring at her with a confused expression.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked. She slowly pointed a trembling finger at the silhouette some forty meters behind Sirius.  
  
His eyes widened as he saw what Lily was pointing at. The shape in the distance was tall and broad and very menacing. The way he was eerily sweeping through the forest was just one of the many factors that set off the alarm in James' head. The other, was the cloak and the thin stick that the man was clinging to.  
  
"Hey, Jamsie, what would be the best sticking spell for me to use so I don't fall off this blasted contraption?" said Sirius, much too loud for James and Lily's liking.  
  
 _"Shut up, Black,"_ whispered Lily, desperately.  
  
"Look, Evans, do you see any Muggles around? I didn't think--"  
  
"Sirius, shut it!" James snapped. Sirius instantly went quiet. He wasn't used to being yelled at by his friend.  
  
"Don't turn around," Lily told Sirius. "There's someone behind you."  
  
"What are you scaring me for? Just a little skier? How old do you think--"  
  
"Sirius, it's one of us, a wizard, but I don't think it's one that we want to be associated with." James put his hands on his head, trying to think of a way to get the others away safely.  
  
Lily felt her heart sink deeper and deeper with fear. She had had five whole years of magical training, but for some reason, she couldn't think of any spell or hexes to use. What was she good at? Charms and Potions. What good were those now?  
  
"We could apparate away," suggested James.  
  
"None of us know how," pointed out Sirius.  
  
"Guys, can we please think of something soon?" said Lily as she glanced nervously at the cloaked figure coming towards them. Its features were becoming clearer. Lily could see two eyes, a mouth, metal skin.... Her eyes widened as she realized the stranger was wearing a mask.  
  
It had been her third year when Lily had caught a look at a metal mask, much like the one on this man. She had been coming out of the toilet when she ran into Narcissa Black talking to her ruddy boyfriend, Malfoy.  
  
"...We don't want to be revealing that we're Death Eaters," Malfoy was explaining to Black with his signature sneer. When Malfoy had seen Lily standing there, shocked, she made a run for it. She didn't look back, not even when Lucius had yelled after her, "Don't go poking your dirty nose in other people's business, Mudblood! Fifteen points from Gryffindor!" She deserved to lose those points, Lily had thought. Gryffindors aren't supposed to run away.  
  
The man who was steadily getting closer to the trio, was definitely a Death Eater.  
  
She, James, and Sirius were just kids. They couldn't beat a fully trained dark wizard! Lily's fear turned to panic as the man in the mask slid closer to them.  
  
"We'll make a run for it," breathed James. Lily glanced at him, surprised by his decision, but now more confident with him and Sirius by her side. "On the count of three, okay?"  
  
The other two nodded silently in agreement.  
  
"All right, one... two... three!"  
  
James grabbed Lily's hand and Sirius' arm and they took off. Lily had never skied so fast before in her entire life. The three of them were dodging in and out of trees and flying into the air every time they went over a small hill. Even Sirius was able to avoid the evergreens that usually gave him grief.  
  
Their getaway wasn't going to last forever, though. It was a rather large jump that landed all three of the teenagers on their faces. As Lily spat freezing snow out of her mouth, she turned around to look for the cloaked Death Eater. She let out a dry sob as she spotted him just a little ways away.  
  
Lily saw James and Sirius both slowly reach for their wands and aimed them at their enemy. She fumbled for her own.  
  
The man stopped suddenly and disappeared on the spot.  
  
"Where did he go?" asked Sirius, nervously.  
  
"I don't know, but I think we should go back to the others," said James, his voice shaking slightly.  
  
"Should we tell them about... about that guy?" asked Lily.  
  
"No. It would be better if we didn't worry them. Plus, we'd have to do a lot of explaining about why we were afraid of a man with a stick...," said James and Lily and Sirius agreed.  
  
  
  
Once Lily, Sirius, and James had made it to the bottom of lift ten, they spotted the others. They were sitting outside of a restaurant and having lunch.  
  
"Okay guys, act normal and cheerful. Don't let them know that anything is wrong," said Lily. As the three sat down with the rest of the group, they made sure they had huge grins on their faces. They proceeded to laugh loudly about a particularly funny joke that Sirius had told them while they were at the warming hut.  
  
"What's wrong with you guys?" asked Cassie, eyeing them suspiciously.  
  
Sirius cursed under his breath.  
  
"Nothing's wrong," said Lily, a little too quickly.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with a bit of laughter," said James with a forced chuckle.  
  
They quickly sat down and pretended to examine the menu.  
  
"Lily, Prongs," whispered Sirius, "that was very smooth. I don't think they suspect anything." He gave them both a thumbs-up before turning to the waitress and ordering two large burgers.  
  
"I'll have one burger instead," said James, "and one hot dog!"  
  
Lily rolled her eyes at them both. "One turkey sandwich, please," she said, politely.  
  
  
****  
  
"Oh, the pain!" yelped Sirius.  
  
"Padfoot! What seems to be the problem?" asked James as he jogged over to his friend.  
  
"He may be hurt," said Lily to the others. Bess, Cassie, and Jill all turned around to see Sirius spawned out in the middle of the courtyard, holding onto his foot. Many people were staring.  
  
The French boys had gone to the airport to pick up another friend, so it was only the girls, James, and Sirius left.  
  
"I want to DIE!" exclaimed Sirius as he dramatically put his hand to his forehead.  
  
"Sirius, what's wrong?" asked Cassie.  
  
"My... my... my...."  
  
"Spit it out, Black," said Lily through gritted teeth.  
  
"My toe," Sirius said. "It seems I have stubbed it pretty badly."  
  
"I saw it! It was bad...," added James with a sincere nod. He removed his glasses, rubbed his chin, and put the specs back on again.  
  
"Sirius might not be able to snowboard anymore," said Lily, sadly.  
  
"He stubbed his toe," Jill pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, he also had his boot on," said Cassie. "You should be just fine."  
  
"I'd like to see you stub your toe! Then you would know how it feels!" said Sirius, very taken aback.  
  
The group standing around Sirius watched as Cassie headed towards the closest wall and kicked it with all her might. They then watched her walk back perfectly normal.  
  
"Your boot is better than mine," said Sirius after she got back.  
  
"It is not, I have the same--"  
  
"Better than mine!"  
  
"Maybe," suggested James, "we should take the afternoon off so Sirius' toe can heal properly."  
  
"Genius," said Sirius, clapping his hands together.  
  
"I think Potter is right," said Lily. All the girls turned their heads in shock.  
  
"You think James is right? Lily, he only stubbed his toe! He doesn't need crutches!" said Jill, impatiently.  
  
"Look guys, there are a lot of nice restaurants in town or we could just eat in. It would be fun and different!" said Lily.  
  
"Fine," said Cassie at last, "I'm in."  
  
"Could Danny and those guys come, too?" asked Jill as she played with her hair.  
  
"No."  
  
"Lily!"  
  
"No! Just friends."  
  
"But Lily, he's my friend," whined Jill.  
  
"Friend? We're friends?" James had a huge grin on his face and he completely forgot about Sirius, who was now slightly twitching on the ground.  
  
"What? Oh, well... we're.... Come on, let's just bring Sirius back to the room," said Lily, her face flushing a light pink.  
  
"Together?"  
  
"Come on, Potter!"  
  
Together, they hoisted Sirius off the ground and headed to the Christophe Brazier as they waved goodbye to the girls who went off to ski their last run.  
  
As the elevator door shut with a ring, Lily and James let Sirius fall to the ground with a huge thump.  
  
"Ouch! That's no way to treat an injured person!" Sirius said as he rubbed his toe.  
  
"Come off it," said Lily. "I told you guys to think of a good way to get hurt that was _believable_! You could have fallen down the stairs or hit your head. You chose to stub your toe...."  
  
"Well, at least everyone will be safe," said James.  
  
"Unless the creepy bloke shows up for dinner that is," said Sirius.  
  
"It's better than skiing alone at dusk," replied James.  
  
"Yeah," said Lily, "we'll be safer tonight."


	8. The Diner

"I don't see why Danny can't come!" said Jill for the hundredth time.  
  
"Oh, come off it," said Cassie.  
  
The girls turned down another hallway. While Lily, Cassie, and Bess were walking together in a line, Jill was behind them, sulking.  
  
"It will be more fun with just Sirius and James," said Bess. "I can't even understand what those French boys are saying half the time! And there's so many of them..."  
  
Cassie nodded in agreement.  
  
Lily however, chose not to have any input on the matter. It was true that she would much rather not have to spend the night with Jim. It would be far too awkward to have dinner with him and James. Not that she preferred to spend the night with James, of course. Jim was perfectly fine. Lily just worried that James would kill the poor boy if he so much as passed her the salt. She sighed and continued to listen to her friends' bickering.  
  
"Are you saying that you don't like french fries? What if they were just called fries?"  
  
"Jill, you're being ridicules! I don't have a problem with France!" said Cassie.  
  
Bess just rolled her eyes at the two and continued to walk, like Lily, in silence.  
  
Finally, the girls reached Sirius and James' room.  
  
They only had to knock once before Sirius answered with a smile. "Hello, ladies," he said as he slung his arm over Cassie. She blushed and let him lead her into the room.  
  
The others followed behind and sat around the crackling fireplace.  
  
A happy looking James jumped over the back of the sofa and landed right next to Lily. She inched away, but couldn't help but laugh at his attempt to show off by hurtling furniture.  
  
"Do you like the fire?" he asked her. "We had to get room service to do it. Did you know it turns on by pushing a little button? It's just like _magic._ "  
  
Lily laughed at him, again. This was the second time in the last two minutes. What was wrong with her? He wasn't _that_ funny.  
  
"But how," Lily asked, "did you possibly figure out how to use a telephone?"  
  
"Oh, that thing?" He pointed to the phone in the corner. "Nah, we still can't get that to work. I made Sirius run down to the lobby to get someone."  
  
"Lazy," Lily murmured before turning to her friends.  
  
"So guys," she asked, her back facing James, "where should we go for dinner?"  
  
"Well, I was thinking...," started James.  
  
"Nobody?" said Lily, pretending to ignore the boy speaking behind her.  
  
"How about that buffet?" asked Sirius. "Best mashed potatoes ever."  
  
"I'm still full from the last time we ate there!" said Jill, jokingly.  
  
"Well if you're not hungry, you don't need to come," shot Bess.  
  
"Hey, that's fine with me! Then I could go with Danny," said Jill. She sounded a bit taken aback because usually Bess never spoke-up. Bess however, was smiling and looking very confident.  
  
"Stop fighting, you guys," said Lily.  
  
"Yeah, really," said James, "We need to think about dinner! How about we go to the--"  
  
"We could order pizza," suggested Lily, cutting James off, again.  
  
"No, we should go out somewhere," said Cassie.  
  
"Down to the village?" said Jill, who seemed to have joined the conversation again.  
  
"To The Three Broomsticks!" exclaimed Sirius as he jumped up from his seat.  
  
Lily and James' eyes widened. Of course there wouldn't be a Three Broomsticks in a Muggle mountain village!  
  
"The Three Broomsticks?" asked Cassie. "I've never her of it.... What do they sell there?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," said Sirius, recognizing his blunder. "It isn't real. I just made it up, right now! Haha! Funny, right?"  
  
"You're a comedy wizard, Sirius," said James sarcastically and Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.  
  
  
  
After much debate, the gang headed to the gondolas to ride into town. They managed to stuff everybody into one car and soon they were gliding on a wire down to the town.  
  
The view was spectacular and Lily could see every individual building standing along the icy streets. The roofs made up a colorful rainbow as they moved closer and closer to the town.  
  
Lily felt a hand on her shoulder and she didn't need to turn her head to see that the hand belonged to Potter. She quickly shrugged him off.  
  
"What do you say we buy a vacation home here?" he asked her.  
  
"I would say sure if I didn't hate you so much," Lily said back.  
  
"Hate is a strong word, Lilykins," replied James. "Plus, we already covered the fact that you love me, so...."  
  
"You're pushing my buttons, Potter," said Lily, but she could see him smiling. No matter what she said, she couldn't change his mind.  
  
The gondola came to a halt, so the teens got out one by one. They made their way through the winding streets and passed the many Muggle shops that mostly had souvenirs in their windows. They saw a few restaurants, but nothing seemed appealing.  
  
"I want sushi!"  
  
"How about Mexican?"  
  
"I'm in the mood for...."  
  
"Potter, let go of my hand!"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
  
It was a two-story house that caught Lily's eye. On the outside, hung a sign that said, "Diner", in bold letters. The others thought it had potential, so they went inside.  
  
It was a cute little place that wasn't very busy and had plenty of seating, so they grabbed a table. Their spot was right next to a huge window that overlooked the entire main road. Lily found herself entranced by the little fragile snowflakes that were falling so perfectly from the sky.  
  
"What would you like to order?" asked the server once everyone was situated.  
  
As her friends placed their orders, Lily browsed through her menu, trying to decide what to get. She settled on a bowl of soup and half of a panini, same as Bess.  
  
"I'll have the cheeseburger, and a baked potato. Oh, and a salad on the side." said James. Lily wondered how boys could eat so much as she listened to Sirius' even larger order.  
  
The group ate a little more quickly that night because they hoped to fit in some shopping before the sun went down. Dinner went smoothly, except when Sirius accidentally tried to tip the waiter with Sickles instead of Muggle money.  
  
"It's just from a joke shop," explained Sirius, apologetically. "I'm very, very sorry. Don't know how it got mixed in...."  
  
James and Lily just shook their heads and rolled their eyes as Sirius let the other girls examine the coin and guess what the numbers and symbols represented.  
  
"Oh, could we stop in here?" asked Jill, pointing to the pharmacy. "I wanted to pick up a pack of gum." She led the way into the tiny store and went searching through her favorite flavors. Cassie, Lily, and Bess went down the "knick-knack" isle and Sirius and James headed to the back of the shop to look at the magazines.  
  
Lily and her friends found tons of random toys and games for little kids. One thing that caught her eye was a box of Muggle magic tricks. She picked it up and went to find the boys to show them the joke.  
  
The store was actually a lot larger on the inside than Lily had expected. The rows of common necessities and the smaller shelves with t-shirts and toiletries gave the shop the feeling of being in a maze. A dark maze, at that because of the lack of light fixtures.  
  
At last, Lily found James and Sirius huddled together by the magazines and newspapers. As they saw her, they signaled for her to be quiet. As she got closer, she noticed the dark figure at the very back of the store. Her heart sank as she saw the man lurking in the shadowy corner of the pharmacy.  
  
"We have to go," mouthed Sirius and he pointed to the door. "Get the others."  
  
Lily quietly turned around and quickly walked to the front of the store, begging that the Death Eater hadn't seen anybody yet or recognized the boys.  
  
'Hey guys," she said, once she had found the girls, "I don't feel very well. Can we go?"  
  
"Of course, Lily," said Cassie.  
  
"I'll just buy my gum and then...," started Jill.  
  
Lily held her hand to her mouth and pretended to cough the best she could. "Please, can we just go _now_?"  
  
"Fine," said Jill and she let out a dramatic sigh which earned her a slap on the arm from Cassie.  
  
James and Sirius had finally made their way to the front of the shop, so they quickly headed out the door.  
  
"Do you think he noticed you?" Lily asked Sirius once they were walking down the street.  
  
"I'm not sure. We aren't sure what her was doing back there, maybe stealing some newspapers or something. But I don't think he saw us."  
  
"I can't believe he was in the town, though." she said. "I thought the town would be fine with so many Muggles around... This really isn't safe. And I don't think it was coincidence that he's here. I think that we need to tell someone, a professor or our parents."  
  
"Not my parents. They'd probably disown me for hanging around Muggles and turning in Death Eaters who are most likely my own cousins. Remember, they don't know that I'm here," said Sirius with a sigh. He smiled at her, but Lily knew that it must be hard to have such a disapproving family. She could barely stand Petunia and she didn't know what she would do if her parents hated her, too.  
  
Bottom line, Lily was scared. She had never had any run-ins with Death Eaters before and in the Muggle world there weren't any professors to protect her. Today, she had had two encounters with Voldemort's followers and that was two too many for her.  
  
"Lily, are you all right? You're shaking," said Cassie as they rode the gondola back to the Christophe Brazier.  
  
"Oh, I'm just a bit cold," lied Lily.  
  
"If you're sure.... Well, it's still early, do you guys wanna hang out at our place? We brought some cards." said Cassie.  
  
James shrugged. "Sure, that sounds like fun."  
  
  
Soon, the group was seated around the coffee table and Jill was explaining the rules of poker to Sirius and James who both seemed utterly confused. All of a sudden, Cassie let out a high pitched scream.  
  
"What's that tapping at the window? Is that... an owl?" she yelled.  
  
"James, Sirius, and Lily were so accustom to seeing owls delivering mail, they hardly even flinched, where as the other girls both let out loud screams like Cassie.  
  
"Someone make it go away!" shouted Jill who had jumped onto the table for some reason. It obviously wasn't protecting her from the bird but she was still nervously hopping on top of it, anyway.  
  
"I will go get it!" exclaimed James with mock bravery. He grabbed a few crackers to give the messenger and headed out onto the balcony where the owl was waiting.  
  
Lily got up to see who the letter was from and Sirius followed.  
  
"Begone, fowl beast!" said James as he signaled for the bird to wait in his and Sirius' suite.  
  
"What does it say?" asked Sirius as they watched James read the letter.  
  
"Oh, Merlin," James groaned before sitting down on a chair and burying his face in his hands.


	9. The Bad News

_Dear James,  
  
You must stay at the Lodge. Our family is being watched and we can't risk you coming home right now. Last night, Aunt Milly, Uncle Mark, and your cousin, Henry, were attacked and killed by Death Eaters. We are so sorry and devastated that you must find out this way. Please, do not try to come home- you are safest hidden among the Muggles. We are in contact with Dumbledore and the Aurors who are trying to find the men who are responsible, but you must not do anything rash. You and Sirius must keep your heads down and don't get into any trouble. And James, do not respond to this owl. Our mail is being intercepted and we don't want your location getting discovered. Please, be safe and remember that we love you and Sirius. Lay low for the next two weeks. We will try to contact you whenever possible, but it is extremely difficult to send owls because they have to go through Dumbledore, so we aren't sure when we will be able to write next. Be strong for your aunt, uncle, and cousin- they would have wanted you to be.  
  
Love,  
Mum and Dad_  
  
There were tear stains splattered across the parchment.  
  
Lily looked up from the letter to see James trying to stay calm. Sirius was completely silent, which was unusual for him when his best mate was in need. They were all in shock. Lily had never met James' aunt or uncle, but Henry was just four years older than them. She knew him at Hogwarts. He was Quidditch captain and Head Boy, always smiling and wanted to be a journalist. He used to help the Marauders out with their constant pranks and they could usually be seen plotting in the common room on most nights.  
  
This was horrible.  
  
Lily had been seeing the reports of deaths growing, knowing Voldemort was responsible despite his name being kept out of print. The victims were always in the back of her mind, but this time it wasn't just an unfamiliar name in the paper. This was a boy who Lily had _known_. True, she hadn't spoken to him much, but she did look up to him as head boy and he had been a role model for all the young Gryffindors. It seemed unreal.

Her mind wandered to Severus, what he might be doing back home. How close had he become with those other Death Eater wannabes after Lily cut him out of her life? The thought that Sev could have any connection to what happened to Henry gave Lily a painful lump in her throat.  
  
James' shoulders were shaking and Lily suddenly felt very awkward. James Potter didn't cry. Not the James Potter she knew. But here he was, the arrogant, lazy, mean, sarcastic, egotistical James Potter, crying.  
  
Sirius seemed to be re-reading the letter, as though he could change it just by staring.  
  
James still hadn't looked up from his hands and Lily wasn't sure if she should go and comfort him or let him be. Would he be embarrassed if she talked to him while he was this vulnerable? If she hugged him? It was too hard to watch him sit there, so she made her decision.  
  
"James, are you alright?" Lily asked him and she put her arm around his shoulder, giving him an awkward hug.  
  
He quickly looked up, his usual soft and playful features were warped, almost childlike. His eyes were red, but he had wiped the tears away as far as she could tell. Sirius finally snapped out of his trance and crouched down on James' other side.  
  
"James, I'm so sorry," said Sirius quietly. James nodded his head, but didn't say anything.  
  
"What are we gonna tell the others?" James said, shakily, after a few moments of silence.  
  
Lily hadn't even thought of her friends. They were probably wondering why it was taking them so long to get rid of an owl. She looked at James, gave him one more hug, then quickly stood up and headed into the room, trying her hardest to think up an excuse. In the end, she decided to tell them what happened.  
  
"Hey guys," Lily began, "I just wanted to tell you that James' aunt, uncle, and cousin died."  
  
Blank faces.  
  
"What happened?" asked Jill.  
  
"It was a robbery. They were killed," Lily replied. She felt herself getting choked up.  
  
"When?" asked Cassie. "How did James find out?"  
  
Lily had hoped they wouldn't ask that. "Um, he just got a... a call. While we were out there."  
  
"A call? I didn't hear a phone ringing," said Jill.  
  
"Oh, we brought it out there," said Lily, quickly.  
  
"That's awful," Bess sniffed.  
  
"Yeah, I knew Henry, his cousin. He was a little older than us. Anyway, I think James and Sirius are going back to their rooms. I'll walk them back."  
  
Nobody protested, so Lily went back to the balcony were Sirius and James were still sitting on the bench.  
  
"James," Lily said, quietly, "I told them what happened. I hope that's all right."  
  
"That's fine, they should know," James replied. His voice was still shaky.  
  
"We probably should be going back to our rooms," said Sirius.  
  
Lily nodded. "I'll walk with you."

"You don't have to," mumbled James.

James tried to leave, but Lily grabbed his shoulder, making him face her. "No, James, I want to."  
  
The carpet muted their footsteps, so the hallway was almost silent. James was a step ahead of Sirius and Lily, probably to hide his face from them. Lily could hear him sniffing from time to time. Sirius seemed to be really effected as well. She knew the two of them were like brothers, so Lily imagined he knew James' relatives, too. The hallways seemed to be getting lengthier. Lily didn't remember the trip to the boy's room being as long as this before. . .  
  
At last, they reached the door.  
  
"I guess I'll head back now," said Lily, awkwardly.  
  
Sirius nodded and slipped into the room, but James lingered.  
  
"Thanks," he mumbled, softly.  
  
"Oh James, I'm so sorry," Lily said and she gave him a hug. It felt right, being in his arms, comforting him. She didn't want to let go, but she knew she had to. When they broke apart, James was wearing a small smile. He went to turn, but Lily quickly grabbed his arm. Before he had time to say anything, Lily quickly kissed his cheek. His eyes lit up and Lily could feel her face getting warm, so she smiled and turned to head back.  
  
"Goodnight, James."  
  
"'Night, Lily."  
  
 _What did I just do?_ Lily thought. She knew that James probably needed a pick-me-up, but from her? Why did she go and kiss him? Sure, it was only his cheek, but it was so out of character! If the same situation had happened a few months before, Lily would have _maybe_ patted his back, at the most. What was happening to her?  
  
And then it dawned on her.  
  
 _"My charm has finally worked!"_ Yes, those were his exact words, only yesterday.  
  
His charm had finally worked.  
  
 _Stop smiling! You only feel bad for him because his family's just been murdered and things are really confusing._ Lily internally slapped herself. This could not be happening. _You were just consoling him, like you would anyone else in his place. Don't forget he's always been arrogant, he's can be mean, he gets in trouble, he loses House Points, he pulls pranks... funny pranks... but pranks none the less!_ This was James Potter. She couldn't be worrying about the butterflies in her stomach with everything else going on. _There's a Death Eater running around the mountains, French boys everywhere I turn, and James' relatives are dying._  
  
Lily couldn't take it anymore. She slid down the hallway wall and plopped herself down on the floor. She had to sort out her thoughts, but she couldn't deal with James right now.  
  
And just when she thought things couldn't possibly get worse, they did. Lily heard a band of French accents walking down the hall and right towards her. When Lily looked up, she saw Jim and his pals laughing with a couple of girls she hadn't seen before.  
  
At first, Lily thought that she could avoid them by not making eye contact. Unfortunately, it's hard to miss a red-head sitting in the middle of the floor.  
  
"Lily?" asked Jim.  
  
Lily moaned. "Hello, Jim."  
  
"What is it you are doing on the floor?"  
  
"I'm sitting. What does it look like to you?"  
  
"Oh, sorry," he said. He paused as though he were thinking something over in his head. "We're hanging out in our room. Would you care to join us?"  
  
Lily was torn. She needed to get her mind off of James and the Death Eaters, maybe hanging out with Jim and his friends would be a good idea. If she went back to her room, there would be nothing there to distract her from all the horrible things happening in her world. "Sure, thanks," she finally said and let Jim help her up.  
  
They got back to Jim's room and Lily saw that it looked almost the same as hers. She sat down on the sofa and Jim and Danny sat beside her.  
  
"Where are all your friends?" asked Danny. He was probably wondering if Jill was anywhere nearby.  
  
"They're back in our room," Lily responded.  
  
"And those boys, too?" asked Jim, his eyebrows raised.  
  
"James and Sirius are in their rooms." Lily sighed. She definitely shouldn't have come, it was now clear she wasn't up to socializing much at the moment.  
  
A tall girl walked over to the living room and sat next to Danny and she draped her arm around him. _Interesting..._ Lily thought. _Maybe they're just a bit more friendly in France._  
  
"This is Eloise," said Danny, who was smiling at her.  
  
"I'm his girlfriend," the girl added, smugly.  
  
"Girlfriend, huh?" asked Lily. Jill would not be happy about this....  
  
Eloise nodded and Danny gave Lily a look.  
  
"Come on, Danny, want to go to the kitchen?" Eloise asked with puppy-dog eyes. Danny nodded and stood up, grabbing her hand.  
  
Lily turned on Jim. "You know, Jill really likes him."  
  
"Danny told me they were only friends," said Jim defensively.  
  
Lily huffed. She wished that she hadn't seen that. She hoped that she wasn't the one who would have to break the news to Jill.  
  
"I should be going," said Lily and she made to get up, but Jim held on to her hand.  
  
"Don't leave, you just came," Jim started as he slid her a beer. "Just stay a little longer." And he pulled her back down on the couch.  
  
 _He is very attractive, in a different way from James. Did I just admit that I find James attractive?_ thought Lily, slightly panicked. _This beer might be a welcome distraction. Maybe I should sit here a little bit longer._  
  
"All right," she said.  
  
Jim started talking and asking questions right away. He listened to what Lily had to say about skiing and laughed politely at all the right times, but Lily couldn't help but notice the small things that brought her mind back to James in a way she wasn't used to. Jim wasn't very funny. He was very serious and sincere. His accent was a little hard to understand and his sandy hair was too neat and tidy. Plus, his eyes were so blue that they looked fake. _He probably has perfect vision, too,_ she thought.  
  
"So, where do you go to school?" asked Jim.  
  
"I go to Hogwarts, a school for the performing arts," said Lily, sticking with her previous story.  
  
"I love the arts!" said Jim, excitedly. "What do you study?"  
  
"I'm a painter," she told him. _And Sirius acts while James prances around in a tutu!_ Lily giggled as she remembered the buffet. She wished she was back there now, with the boys and her friends. Everybody was laughing and telling jokes and having fun.  
  
"Painting is lovely," said Jim as he pushed his straight bangs out of his eyes. "You know, Lily, I appreciated getting to talk to you without that prat following you around."  
  
That was it. "Mmm hmm. Jim, it's late. I should really go now," Lily said curtly and she stood up.  
  
Jim sighed, "Oh. Okay, Lily."  
  
He walked her to the door, passing Danny and Eloise who were locked in a snog, and she quickly left.  
  
"Let me walk you back to your room," he suggested.  
  
"I can get back on my own, thanks," Lily said, feeling annoyed now.  
  
"At least let me accompany you to the elevator."  
  
She rolled her eyes. Could she say no again?  
  
"Fine."  
  
He grinned and hurried next to her, slipping his arm around her waist. She wriggled, trying to get out of his grasp. _It's only to the elevator,_ she thought as his grip tightened.  
  
Finally, they reached the gold elevator doors and he let go of her.  
  
"Goodnight, Lily," he said and Lily turned to get on, but he had grabbed her arm, holding her back.  
  
"Jim," she started, but he had spun her around and kissed her. _Stop it, stop it, stop it!_ Lily begged as she tried to push him away. She finally managed, and came face to face with a smug looking Jim.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Lily shouted. "Do you always go around kissing girls you've just met? I'm not interested!"  
  
"Come on, Lily, you wanted-"  
  
"No, Jim. I wouldn't have _pushed_ you away if I wanted to kiss you!"  
  
The boy just shook his head, turned away, and headed back to his room, leaving Lily to wait for the next lift.  
  
"What was that about?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Oh, in the name of Merlin's baggiest Y-fronts."


	10. The Chat

"What are you doing, Evans?" asked Sirius, a confused expression on his face.  
  
"I... he... it's not my..." Lily stammered. She was still a bit flustered from what had just happened. It's not every day a French boy kisses you in a fancy hotel on a ski resort. And you didn't want him to.  
  
"Do you even know that guy? You go around, snogging perfect strangers when James is right in front of you! Try him out for size, will you?" Sirius said, raising his voice.  
  
Lily covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. She had just kissed James on the cheek when she left the boys at their room. Now to be kissing another boy the same night? Sirius obviously only saw part of what happened. Of course that must have looked a bit...  
  
"Seriously, Evans, what's wrong with James?" said Sirius, more quietly now.  
  
Great. He had turned this little misunderstanding into a "why wont you date my best mate?" lecture. That's what she needed.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with James!" Lily said, or more like shouted, to Sirius. She was blushing, but luckily the hallway lights were dim. The elevator doors opened again and Sirius shoved Lily in, followed her in, and pressed on the seventeenth floor. It looked like they were going to have a nice little elevator chat.  
  
"Then why wont you give him a chance?"  
  
"Come on Sirius, I don't want to talk about this. He just lost his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin," said Lily. Sirius tilted his head, still waiting for an answer. Lily paused and thought over what had already been going through her head. "Well, he's arrogant, he's a trouble maker, and he's a bully."  
  
Sirius just snorted. "Like I haven't heard _that_ before."  
  
They started going up to the seventeenth floor, the highest floor, and Lily wondered how long this "chat" would be.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not creative enough for you, Mr. Black," she said and rolled her eyes jokingly at him.  
  
"Hey," he said, "Mr. Black is my father. You can call me Sirius."  
  
"All right, _Sirius_ ," she hissed.  
  
"Now, would you mind telling me why you were exchanging saliva with that Frenchy arse?" he asked and Lily groaned.  
  
"I'm not a floozie _,_ if that's what you're asking. I think you've known me long enough to know that I don't just snog any boy that smiles in my direction," she said.  
  
"I didn't think so."  
  
"It wasn't my fault," she told him, "Jim just... just... pounced!"  
  
Sirius laughed a loud, bark-like laugh. "He pounced, did he? Git...."  
  
She smiled at him and made to get out of the elevator when the door opened on the seventh floor, but a small lady was standing on the other side, trying to get in. Her eyes widened when she saw Sirius there, remembering him from somewhere.  
  
"You're that pubescent whipper-snapper who knocked me on my backside that night at the buffet!" she squealed, shaking her finger at Sirius.  
  
Lily giggled into her hands as she remembered the old woman falling to the ground, being the unlucky roadblock that separated Sirius from the food.  
  
"My upmost apologies, ma'am," said Sirius with a smile, but the woman still didn't look very pleased. "Unfortunately for you, we aren't going to let you on the elevator. Why, you ask? Because you're a little too crabby, and my friend and I are trying to have a nice chat and we're afraid you would ruin it." He gave her another sweet smile before the door closed again, leaving her outside, looking confused.  
  
"That was brilliant."  
  
"I know, I'm a Marauder," said Sirius with a wink.  
  
"What does that even mean? 'Oh, I'm a Marauder... I can say that every time someone compliments me,'" said Lily, trying her best to sound like Sirius.  
  
"Was that your James impression? It's a bit shabby, you know. Could use a bit practice," laughed Sirius.  
  
"That was you!" said Lily, taken aback. She gave him a joking glare and laughed as he arched his eyebrow.  
  
"That is a bloody awful impersonation of me, Evans. You should be embarrassed."  
  
"My upmost apologies," said Lily, mockingly.  
  
"Seriously though," said Sirius, "What's wrong with James?"  
  
Lily groaned. She couldn't just answer him. She couldn't admit out-loud that there was absolutely nothing wrong with James in her mind. She definitely couldn't tell Sirius that she sort of _fancied_ him... almost. She had worked too hard all these years hating James. She had a reputation to uphold.  
  
"You're awfully quiet, Evans. I would think you'd be yelling at me by now."  
  
"It's just," Lily said, "I don't know."  
  
"You don't know what's wrong with him? Well, there's nothing wrong with him, that's why! It's all in your head. You've built up this hatred towards him from first year, mind you it was slightly deserved back then, but he's not eleven anymore and you can't let it go. Let it go, Lily! It's not James' fault that Snape's a prejudiced git!"  
  
It's just that... just that...." The doors opened on the seventeenth floor, so Lily quickly pressed on the sixth floor button to get back to her own floor.  
  
"Just that what?" asked Sirius. "You afraid of changing the status quo?"  
  
It's like he could read minds.  
  
Lily didn't say anything, she just let Sirius rant about how she shouldn't care about something as meaningless as a reputation. Lily was relieved when the doors opened, but quickly realized this wasn't the right floor. A little red-faced lady was standing in the corridor and quickly made her way into the elevator before anyone could stop her.  
  
Sirius smiled as sweetly as he had before at her, but she only returned his gesture with a glare worthy of Professor McGonagall. The last floor was ridden in silence and Lily quickly got out on the sixth level, leaving Sirius with the woman.  
  
Lily quickly walked back to her room and snuck in without waking any of her friends. She jumped into bed and turned out the lights, fearing what tomorrow might bring and praying that Sirius wouldn't tell James what had happened between her and Jim. _Why was Sirius even out in the corridors so late, anyway?_ Lily thought as she drifted off to sleep.


	11. The Death Eater's Request

The morning came much too quickly for Lily. Once she had made her way to the kitchen, she noticed that she was, in fact, the last to wake up. That wasn't surprising though, last night _was_ very eventful.  
  
Lily grabbed a bagel and started picking at it. She squished the bread and ate a couple bites before glancing up and seeing her friends giving her strange looks. Cassie quickly turned away when Lily met her eye.  
  
"Guys?" Lily asked.  
  
They all looked up at her and eyed her like she was a particularly funny piece of clothing.  
  
"So," said Jill, finally, "how was your night? You were out late...."  
  
 _Oh, Merlin,_ Lily thought as she realized her friend's suspicions.  
  
"Guy's I know what you might think," she said, "but that's not what happened!"  
  
"Lily, you left with James and Sirius and then you never came back! What do you think we'd think?" asked Cassie.  
  
"Nothing happened. I dropped them off and then I felt a bit overwhelmed, so I hung out in the hallway for a while."  
  
"Until close to two in the morning?" piped up Bess who, until now, hadn't said a word.  
  
"How did you... you were... how do you know what time I got back?" asked Lily with arched eyebrows.  
  
"I was getting a glass of water when you came in."  
  
Lily sighed. She was a bit upset her friends wouldn't believe her.  
  
She took one more look at all of them. "Guys, I didn't."  
  
Cassie was the first to break. "Fine. I believe you. But I do want to know what you were doing all that time."  
  
"If you have to know, fine," said Lily and she told them about her run-in with Jim... well, most of it.  
  
"Did Danny mention me at all?" asked Jill from a corner and Lily gulped.  
  
"Er, I don't remember...."  
  
"Oh," Jill said, looking a bit defeated.  
  
Lily decided to change the topic. "Wow, look at the time! We better get ready for skiing or we'll never make it to the mountains."  
  
The others agreed, so they quickly got their gear on and prepared for a day of skiing. It was then that a thought crossed Lily's mind. _Maybe James wont want to go skiing today since his aunt and uncle and cousin were just murdered by Death Eaters last night. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to just lock himself in his room all day..._ Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door.  
  
"Let us in Evans! If you guys take any longer, the snow will be melted by the time we get there!" yelled the voice of James Potter from the opposite side of the heavy wooden door.  
  
Lily quickly opened the door to see an excited James and a confused looking Sirius in the hallway.  
  
James looked awfully chipper seeing as he just heard about the deaths of his family members less than twenty-four hours ago.  
  
Sirius looked just as dumbfounded as Lily felt.  
  
"What's wrong with him? I thought he'd be a bit more upset than this," she said once she had pulled Sirius into the kitchen.  
  
"Don't know. I'm just as concerned as you are." They looked over to see James greeting the girls enthusiastically and with a big cheesy smile. "I have an idea, though."  
  
What is it, do you reckon?" asked Lily.  
  
"From what I know, James hasn't dealt with a death in his family _ever_. His grandparents were dead before he could properly crawl and he's only got his aunt and uncle on his dad's side. This must be how he deals with this sort of thing."  
  
Sirius Black was being reasonable.  
  
Lily thought about what he had said. When her gram died, Lily had shut herself in her bedroom for almost a week. That was when she was six. When she was ten, and her grandfather had passed, she had just been quiet for a while and avoided people at school. That was her way of coping, James' was just... different.  
  
"Lillian!" said James as he jumped into the kitchen. "Are you ready for some skiing? We should go through that forest run again! That was fun..."  
  
"James," said Lily, cutting him off, "what about the Death Eater? It's not safe in there, especially not with my _Muggle_ friends."  
  
"What's a Death Eater gonna want with some Muggles?"  
  
Lily frowned.  
  
"James, are you _drunk_?" she asked at last.  
  
"Am I... what? Of course not! Merlin, Lily, I'm not that irresponsible!" said James, defensively.  
  
"Sorry," she mumbled back, "I had to ask." Lily watched James as he went to sit down at the kitchen bar.  
  
"It was just a rough night. Trying to stay positive, you know?"  
  
Lily nodded at him and smiled.  
  
"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I want to ski," announced Cassie and she headed out the door with Bess and Jill at her heals.  
  
"I'm off," said Sirius as he followed the parade.  
  
"We should-"  
  
"Go with them," finished Lily and she grabbed James' arm and pulled him out the door.  
  
***  
  
The group found themselves on top of the biggest mountain in the resort that morning. They had decided to avoid the forrest, and what might be lurking in the trees, by picking a particularly crowded run. Vacationers were everywhere. Poor Sirius almost went tumbling off the side of the hill, trying to avoid a little girl and her brother.  
  
"Those little prats are covering the whole bloody mountain," complained Sirius after a boy jabbed him with a pole. It seemed like the ski school had also picked this run.  
  
"Oh, Black, how can you be mad at them," said Lily as she helped a little girl in a bright pink jumper up from the ground. "They're so adorable!"  
  
"And don't forget," cut in James, "this was you just a couple of days ago. Hey, wasn't that four-year-old in your group?" James pointed a tubby boy with his finger shoved up his little nose, sitting on his rear-end.  
  
"Prick," muttered Sirius and he threw a snowball in James' direction.  
  
As a result, James lost his balance and ended up with a mouthful of slush and a snowboard half-way across the mountain.  
  
"Nice throw, Sirius!" cheered Jill, and Cassie gave him a hi-five. Lily just shook her head and smiled to herself as she watched James try to dodge the other skiers and boarders in his mad attempt to retrieve his board.  
  
"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hungry," announced Sirius once the group had finished the run.  
  
"You're always hungry, Padfoot," said James.  
  
Sirius punched his friend's arm and turned to the others. "Lunch, anyone?"  
  
"I'll go," said Cassie.  
  
Jill and Bess agreed with her and quickly started listing off every restaurant within five miles of the resort.  
  
"The Diner."  
  
"How 'bout that cute little cafe on the main road?"  
  
"We could go to the warming hut!"  
  
"Nah, what about Allegros?"  
  
Lily and James exchanged glances before finally giving in.  
  
"Fine, I'll go."  
  
"If she goes, I'll go," said James with a smirk. Lily just rolled her eyes and tried to cover up the smile that was twitching at her lips.  
  
  
  
Lily, Cassie, Jill, Bess, James, and Sirius finally made the decision to go to Allegros. It was a small buffet diner with plenty of food and a spectacular view that sat in the middle of lift four's run, making it the perfect place to stop for something to eat. The group decided to eat inside; the winds were picking up and the frost was starting to nibble at their reddening noses.  
  
Sirius was the first inside and in line. By the time the others had placed their orders, Sirius had already found a table and started to inhale his food.  
  
Lily decided to get some chips and ketchup because she wasn't as hungry as Sirius, who was now up from the table to buy another bag of crisps. However, as she was heading towards the checkout line, she spotted a hot coco machine that was simply too tempting to be passed up. There was already somebody at the counter, so Lily waited as the others bought their food.  
  
"I'll save you a seat," called James.  
  
The man in front of Lily seemed to be have a difficult time with his cup, so Lily stood waiting behind him, impatiently, tapping her foot.  
  
At last, she had waited long enough, so Lily reached out her arm and tapped the man's shoulder. "Excuse me, but do you need some help with that?"  
  
Lily's insides flipped, and she gasped at the man who turned around to face her. It was Markus Selwyn.  
  
She was numb with fear as she stared into the cold, grey eyes of the former Slytherin. He had been a seventh year during Lily's third year and he had had a nasty sense of humor. Lily remembered hearing stories of Selwyn killing the owls of kids who got on his bad side.  
  
And now he was right in front of her.  
  
She wished that she had her wand, but it was in her jacket back at the table. She silently begged for James or Sirius to come and get her out of this mess. But as Selwyn continued to stare at Lily, she wondered if he didn't recognize her. There was a chance that she could quickly leave without him making the connection. Maybe if she just apologized and backed away everything would be--  
  
"Evans," snarled Selwyn. Lily could see his yellow teeth.  
  
So much for that.  
  
She didn't respond, she couldn't even move. Her insides were shaking and Lily feared that her knees were going to give way. She glanced over to the table where her friends were eating and caught James' eye.  
  
"Is the little Mudblood brat afraid of little 'ol me?" growled Selwyn and he took a step closer to Lily. Again, Lily tried to move, but her feet felt as thought they were glued to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see James and Sirius excusing themselves from the others and making their way over to where she was.  
  
"How, bout you come with me, honey. We've been meaning to have a chat with your mate, Potter."  
  
Selwyn grabbed Lily's wrist and started to pull her away from the line and towards the door. She tried to shake him off, but he just tightened his grip, crushing and unnaturally bending her arm. Lily tried to shout, but something, a curse, was preventing her from making noise. Before she was pushed out the door, Lily looked behind her shoulder to see James and Sirius trying to shove through the crowd of people getting their food and she silently begged that they would reach her in time.  
  
As Selwyn pulled her out into the sun and cold, Lily considered hitting or kicking him. _Maybe it would give me enough time to run back to my friends,_ Lily thought, but her plans were quickly smothered as she noticed the Death Eater grab for his wand to hold to her throat. He was now taking her behind the building, that bordered the forest, where another man, dressed in black and wearing a mask, was waiting.  
  
There was the sound of a slamming door and Lily begged that it was the boys coming to find her. Would they be able to fight these men off, though?  
  
"Alright, sweethart," murmured Selwyn in Lily's ear, "you better not move a muscle, or you know what'll happen." He waved his wand and green sparks flew out the end of it, dangerously close to Lily's face. She was so scared now, that it felt hard to even breath. But more than anything, Lily was angry. Something about Selwyn's greasy hair made her blood boil and if she couldn't do anything else, she decided to fix a glare in his direction.  
  
"I'm sure Potter will be here in a second to come and save his filthy Mudblood," said Selwyn to the other man looming by the trees.  
  
It suddenly dawned on Lily that this was a trap, and she was the bait. _I'm going to get him hurt_ she thought. She sniffed, partially due to the tears welling in her eyes and partially from the cold.  
  
"Are you crying? Where's your knight in shining armor, now?"  
  
"He's right here," came a voice from behind Lily.  
  
She whipped around to see James and, although she knew she was responsible for bringing him and Sirius into this trap, she felt relieved by his presence. And as James Potter came strutting towards her and the Death Eaters, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that James had probably waited for the perfect moment to swoop in and save the day.  
  
"You're going to let her go now," said James calmly. Lily was amazed how he could keep his cool in such a frightening situation.  
  
"What makes you so sure about that?" asked the Death Eater who hadn't, until now, said anything.  
  
"Because there's no way in Hell that I would let you harm a hair on her head."  
  
He still managed to send a wink in her direction. Remarkable.  
  
"Now, do James and I have to fight you brainless twats, or will you give us back our friend?" chimed in Sirius as he raised his wand, menacingly.  
  
"Oh, you can have your Mudblood back..."  
  
"Don't call her that," sneered James.  
  
"As I was saying," continued Selwyn, "you can have it back. We just have a request for you, Potter."  
  
"And what might that be?" James asked, although Lily was quite sure he didn't want to know.  
  
"Join us."  
  
James laughed a cold, almost maniacal, laugh. "Is that a joke?"  
  
"You know it's not. You know who you are. The Potters have power, status, and Merlin knows you lot have the brains. I'm sure you aren't surprised by our offer?" Selwyn stared him down, not breaking eye-contact.  
  
"I'm sure you're not surprised that I'd rather die."  
  
"So be it."  
  
"James!" screamed Lily, finally regaining her voice, as Selwyn raised his wand and aimed it at him and Sirius.  
  
She should have realized, though, that these Death Eaters hardly stood a chance against the two best duelers (not to mention Marauders) at Hogwarts. And a little help from Lily wouldn't hurt. She scooped up a handful of snow and threw it directly in Selwyn's face.  
  
" _Stupefy!_ shouted Sirius before Selwyn could wipe the snow out of his eyes. He was out cold before you could say "Quidditch."  
  
"You Bloody traitor!" yelled the other Death Eater, to Sirius, before running to his unconscious partner. Before James could disarm him, the man shoved Lily to the ground, grabbed Selwyn and raised his wand in the air. "We'll be back," he threatened. He and Selwyn were gone, leaving behind a mass of black smoke.  
  
"Are you all right?" asked James as he rushed towards Lily.  
  
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit spooked, I guess." She looked at Sirius who was now examining the smoke.  
  
"Weird...," he said as he tried swiping his hand through the blackness. "I guess this is how they got away, but I don't think it was apparation. It couldn't be apparation...." He trailed off.  
  
"This place isn't safe," Lily told James, "I think we need to get out of here."  
  
"But in that letter, the one my parents sent, they said we should stay at the resort."  
  
"But they didn't know there were Death Eaters here. It changes everything completely!"  
  
"Lily, please listen." James had a sad expression, mirroring the one he wore the night before. "It's no safer out there than it is here. My aunt, uncle, and cousin were murdered _in their own home._ Trust me, nowhere is safe."  
  
"Hogwarts is safe," Lily said, and for the first time in what seemed like ages, she missed magic. She missed her friends, her classes, Dumbledore. She missed Sev. Or she missed the Severus that she grew up with. This was the first Summer vacation that they hadn't spent together and she missed their adventures at the river and pranks they would play on Petunia's boyfriends. She could always depend of Sev, talk to him when she was upset or play tag when she was bored. But not anymore. Lily felt an anger boiling up that seemed to follow every thought of Severus she had lately.  
  
"Well we aren't at Hogwarts anymore," announced Sirius. "Think of it as a test. It's a challenge! Get a little taste of the real world, baby!" He had a mischievous look about him, like he was about to pull a nasty trick. Lily assumed he was just enjoying the thrill that came with danger.  
  
"I still don't like the idea of crazy Voldemort followers tracking us down with my unsuspecting _Muggle_ friends stuck in the middle of all this. Could we tell them that we want to stop skiing for the day? I would feel better if we were at the Christophe Brazier."  
  
"Come on, Evans! What's the fun in that?" whined James.  
  
"And put all our lives in danger, _Potter_? I think not," she responded, coldly. This was the arrogance that drove her crazy back in school. James was always cocky, always confident... but then again, that confidence was what saved their necks with those Death Eaters.

"But I should thank you for saving me," she added after a moments pause.  
  
"Well, I couldn't have done it without you," he responded with a wink.  
  
***  
  
In an hour, the group was back at the base of the main run. Lily's friends didn't understand why they suddenly had to leave Allegro's or where James, Sirius, and Lily had disappeared, but the girls agreed with them anyway.  
  
After Cassie realized she had used the last of her toothpaste, the group made a detour to the marketplace next to the Christophe Brazier. It was decided that, instead of eating out, they were going to buy a frozen pizza and watch Muggle movies that night.  
  
"What are moovies?" asked Sirius, to Lily.  
  
"Oh, Sirius," Lily laughed, "you'll see...."  
  
The market proved to be more fun than expected. Usually, when Lily's parents dragged her to the store to run errands, it was boring and the fruit aisle was always far too cold. But this time, Lily found herself laughing and giddy as she ran (and sometimes danced) up and down the sections. They got a few strange looks from other shoppers, but Lily didn't care. As long as it took her mind off of the encounter with the Death Eaters, she couldn't care less what other people thought of her.  
  
"Evans, should we buy some hot coco?" suggested James.  
  
"Most definitely."  
  
James tossed the package into the shopping cart that Lily was pushing and it landed right next to the soda cans.  
  
"GOAL FOR GRYFFINDOR!" cheered Sirius as he jogged a victory lap around the aisle that ended with him pouncing on James.  
  
"Oi, Padfoot! Gerrof of me, you're causing a mess."  
  
"Dog pile!" Sirius shouted back. Both boys started to laugh.  
  
After Sirius finally let James get off the ground, they found Bess and Jill who were talking excitedly.  
  
"Did you guys see that?" asked Jill.  
  
"What, me kicking Prongs' arse?" said Sirius.  
  
"No, an owl just flew into the store! Isn't that weird? That's two owls we've seen in two days!"  
  
Lily, James, and Sirius exchanged glances. "An owl?" asked Lily.  
  
"Yeah, a snowy owl. I thought those were just in the Arctic or something," said Bess.  
  
Sirius and James bolted down the aisle and Lily took off after them. Maybe it was a letter from James' parents telling them to come home. Maybe it was the Ministry of Magic expelling Sirius for using magic outside of school to stun that Death Eater. Maybe it was help.  
  
When Lily finally caught up with the boys, she found them by the cereal. Sirius was carefully opening a window and letting the owl out and James was slipping something that looked a lot like a letter into his back pocket.  
  
"Who's it from?" asked Lily, anxiously.  
  
"Erm... it was just a random owl. I don't even think it had a letter or anything," said James. Lily glared at him.  
  
"You and I both know that snowy owls don't just fly into supermarkets for no reason, Potter."  
  
James just laughed awkwardly. "Right. Of course they don't. It was just from Remus."  
  
"What did he have to say?"  
  
"Nothing... important...."  
  
"Nothing? He just wanted to say hi?" Lily asked. She could almost taste the sarcastic venom in her words. _How could he not tell me what the letter says? We're stranded at a ski resort, surrounded by Death Eaters and he can't tell me what his mate wrote?_  
  
"Well, he said a little more...."  
  
"James," said Lily as she took a step towards him, "can't I just see the letter?" She took another step.  
  
"You... erm... don't have to. I mean- uh... you know, he's just checking... up," stuttered James as Lily took another step closer to him. They were barely a foot apart, now, close enough to see James' cheeks flushing ever so slightly. Lily reached out and played with the zipper on James' jacket and looked into his widening eyes as she moved her other arm around his waist.  
  
"I just want to read it... would that be so bad?" she asked and she slid her hand into his back pocket.  
  
"Wait- um... you shouldn't- er... I wouldn't.... You're going to get mad--"  
  
Lily snatched the parchment out of James' pocket. "Thanks, James."  
  
She left him gawking by the cereal as she opened the letter. When she finished, she calmly looked up and said two words, "No chance."


	12. The Letter

_Dear James and Sirius,  
  
Hey guys, I got Sirius' letter and I know we talked about this already, but I just wanted to be sure that everything is still okay for the full moon. I really don't want to risk anything, but my parents were just called to Mungo's. There was some emergency that they needed to be there for. Are you positive there is somewhere safe for me? There is no chance I'm putting anyone at risk, right? I just don't think I can do it alone. When I was younger, my parents built this little shack for me, but I've outgrown it since then. But seriously, I don't want anyone getting hurt. You said the place you were was basically empty?  
  
Thanks,  
Remus_  
  
Lily knew that the Marauders were known for recklessness, but to bring a werewolf to a ski resort was taking a step too far.  
  
"No chance," she told James who had started to look a little nervous as Lily had read the letter.  
  
"But Lily," he tried to protest.  
  
"No."  
  
"He's our best mate-"  
  
"No."  
  
"He needs us!"  
  
"He needs a couple of teenage boys? For what, a midnight snack?" said Lily, standing her ground.  
  
James seemed to be searching for an answer. His eyes were darting around the store, but never resting on Lily's. Lily patiently waited for an answer.  
  
"You wouldn't understand," was what he finally came up with.  
  
"That's right, I don't understand. Please, enlighten me," she deadpanned.  
  
"Seriously, Evans," chimed in Sirius, "just believe us when we say we can help him in certain ways."  
  
"We make his transformation easier," added James.  
  
"How, by brewing a potion? Potter, you and I both know you can hardly even brew a simple cough tonic. How do you plan on helping him," she asked, her eyes narrowing.  
  
"You wouldn't believe us, even if we told you," said Sirius.  
  
"Try me," spat back Lily, it was clear to the boys she was getting angry.  
  
"We can't tell you," said James. "I'm Sorry."  
  
"Fine, then he can't come."  
  
"Lily, he has to come. Don't worry about it, we have a plan."  
  
"In his letter, Remus said he was only coming if there was no chance of hurting anyone. This resort is jam-packed with Muggles! He's going to slip up! Werewolf's can't control themselves, can they?" said Lily, her voice rising.  
  
"No, they can't, but I swear everything will be fine. Every single person at this resort is completely safe," said James.  
  
"But with the Death Eaters...," Lily brought her voice down to a whisper as Cassie turned down their aisle.  
  
"Come on, everyone," Cassie called, "we're waiting for you to check out!"  
  
"We'll continue this discussion later," said Lily.  
  
" _We'll continue this later_ ," imitated James from behind her and Sirius chuckled. Lily ignored them.  
  
The group checked out and headed back to the Christophe Brazier, grocery bags in hand. They went to their respected rooms, Lily, Cassie, Jill, and Bess to theirs and James and Sirius to theirs, to drop off the food.  
  
"So, we'll have pizza and then watch _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ ," said Cassie, thinking about the night's plans.  
  
"Oh, I love that movie!" exclaimed Bess.  
  
Lily hadn't actually seen the movie, but decided that you couldn't go wrong with a movie about chocolate. In fact, Lily had hardly seen any movies since she had started Hogwarts. She suddenly felt excited about watching some Muggle entertainment with her friends, it would be just like old times.  
  
"Lily, would you go get the boys?" asked Bess and Lily agreed. She wanted to have a word with James and Sirius.  
  
  
"Come on in!" yelled Sirius from the other side of the boy's door. Lily let herself in and walked over to where James was sitting on the couch.  
  
"Lily! How lovely to see you, should we head over to your place now? I've never seen a mov-thingy before, is it fun?"  
  
"What did you tell Remus?"  
  
"What did I-- oh. Yeah, I replied to him." James shifted in his seat.  
  
"What did you say?" asked Lily suspiciously.  
  
"Stuff...."  
  
"You told him he could come, didn't you." It was more of a statement rather than a question.  
  
"Look, Lily, you wouldn't understand," said James, standing up from the couch.  
  
"Oh, that's where you're wrong," said Lily. "I understand perfectly that you're bringing a dangerous werewolf to a resort that's teeming with Muggles. I know he's your friend, James, and I like Remus too, but it's too much of a risk. There's no denying that."  
  
Lily noticed that James was so surprised that she had used his first name while arguing with him, that he didn't even seem to have heard what she had said.  
  
"I'm glad that we can stay on a first-name basis, even when we're fighting. It shows progress," he said as he gave her a wink.  
  
"You're impossible," Lily shot back.  
  
James just ruffled his messy hair.  
  
"How is Remus even getting here?" Lily asked at last. That had been on her mind since she had read the letter.  
  
"He's flying," said James simply.  
  
"Flying?"  
  
"F-L-Y-I-N-G, Evans," said Sirius from the other room. Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
"Did he get plane tickets?" asked Lily.  
  
James laughed. "He's not taking a plane, he's flying on his broom."  
  
"Are you mental? He can't be well enough to fly if he's about to transform!" shouted Lily. How daft were these boys?  
  
"It's fine, the full moon isn't for another week, so it's okay to fly. He's done it before," said James.  
  
"He's done this before? Why?"  
  
"He came to my house over Easter break last year," James explained.  
  
"How do you help him?" Lily asked, trying to get the answer out of him. There had to be something special they did, werewolves were highly dangerous.  
  
"Lily, I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I really am," James said, looking straight into her eyes.  
  
She held his gaze for a moment and then looked away. She didn't know what to say. James seemed to be certain that nobody would get hurt, but Lily didn't know if she could believe his word. Sev had always warned her that the Marauders were not to be trusted, but now that she had spent more time with James and Sirius....  
  
All of the sudden, something clicked. The sudden memory of Severus in the Hospital Wing flashed across her mind. Lily remembered the way he had told her about Sirius playing a nasty trick on him. Sev had said they had almost killed him. He had mentioned the Whomping Willow and Remus at the end of it... had Sev run into the werewolf Remus? It was all starting to make sense, but one thing didn't fit. Lily, and the rest of the school, knew that Sev and the Marauders weren't on good terms, but did Sirius hate Sev so much that he would try to get him killed?  
  
"Black!" shouted Lily suddenly. Sirius walked into the room, his eyebrows raised.  
  
"You called?"  
  
"I need you to answer me. It's very important."  
  
Sirius nodded his head slowly.  
  
"What prank did you pull on Severus Snape last year?" asked Lily. She begged that he would tell her that her theory was wrong.  
  
Sirius seemed to be thinking over his response, and James was tense at his side.  
  
"Look, Lily, I wasn't looking to kill him, if that's what you're thinking," said Sirius slowly.  
  
"You led him strait to the werewolf Remus, didn't you? How could you do something like that?" Lily said, her temper rising with her voice.  
  
"Look, I was immature, stupid, horrible..."  
  
"Yeah, this is why I hate you both so much!" shouted Lily. She couldn't believe that anyone would play such a dangerous prank for a laugh.  
  
"Hold on, Evans," said Sirius, "James wasn't apart of it."  
  
"Oh, like I'm supposed to believe that?!"  
  
"He wasn't! If it weren't for James, your little Snivellus _would_ probably be dead! James _saved_ him!" shouted Sirius, back. "James wasn't the bad guy, I was."  
  
Lily stared at Sirius, standing there with an ashamed look on his face. She was trying to wrap her mind around the whole story.  
  
"Wait," she said at last, "James... saved Sev?" Lily glanced at James, who had sat back down in his seat and was looking uncomfortable.  
  
"Yeah, he did," said Sirius after a long silence. "See, I thought it would be funny to teach Snape a lesson. He was always sticking his slimy nose into Remus' business, so I thought I would show him a glimpse of Moony. You know, only to give him a right fright to scare him away. It was stupid, and when James found out, he was pissed. He headed to the Whomping Willow, which is where Remus goes to get to the place where he transforms, and pulled Snape out just before Moony could get him. Of course, they both had to deal with the Willow afterwards. That left them pretty beat up. But Evans, Trust me, I've learned my lesson and I can assure you, I'm never putting anyone in danger again. That's why you can trust me when I tell you we can take care of Remus' furry little problem."  
  
"Is that true, James?" asked Lily. She was stunned at both Sirius' idiocy and James' bravery.  
  
James nodded his head, slowly, and met Lily's gaze.  
  
"Wow," she whispered. Then she turned to Sirius. "You're awful, Black."  
  
"I'm well aware."  
  
"And James, thanks, I guess."  
  
He looked at her.  
  
"Thanks for saving him," she continued. "I know he's a prat and all, but I'm glad you risked your life for him. It's very... Gryffindor of you. Did he- did he ever thank you?"  
  
"No," said James quietly.  
  
"He's got too much pride," added Sirius.  
  
Lily took a deep breath and pushed Severus out of her mind. She shook him from her memory and looked at the two boys before her. Slowly, she reached down and took James' hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on," she said, "Let's go watch a movie."


	13. The Forest

It felt like so much had happened since the confrontation with the Death Eaters. However, now Voldemort's followers weren't the only cause of Lily's stress. She was slightly terrified that Remus was going to eat someone come full moon. She liked Remus, he had always been the most responsible and kindest Marauder, but she couldn't ignore the fact that he was dangerous.  
  
Lily wasn't prejudiced towards werewolves, but now she was worried that she was coming off as such.  
  
During the movie, no one mentioned Remus, other than Sirius telling Lily's friends that he would be staying with them for a little while. Other than Sirius' announcement, the movie was fun to watch, especially because of James' and Sirius' constant outbursts about the moving pictures and wondering how the Muggles did it. (Of course they didn't say Muggles....)  
  
The movie took her mind off of the current issues, but Lily still was skeptical about the whole plan. She was a fairly smart student, but she couldn't think of a single spell or potion that would help James and Sirius tame a werewolf.  
  
Lily had woken up the next day much earlier than she usually did. It might have been the beam of sunshine that broke through the curtains, but she suspected it was simply the fact that she was too nervous to sleep any longer.  
  
The clock read a quarter after six, so Lily decided to start getting ready.  
  
She was about to pull on her snow pants when she realized that skiing might not be the best idea. After all, there were Death Eaters on the resort following them. Lily thought through all of her options. She could always pretend to be sick and make her friends stay inside with her. Of course, that wouldn't be a good enough excuse to last another few weeks. Another choice was to simply hope for the best and ski despite the dark wizards. Maybe she, James, and Sirius could wear disguises so they wouldn't be spotted. Her last option was to let her friends go on without her. Selwyn wasn't really a threat to her Muggle friends who were just like everyone else on the resort. The Death Eaters were only looking for Lily, James, and Sirius. But if anything _did_ happen to Cassie, Bess, or Jill, Lily would never be able to forgive herself.  
  
When she checked the digital clock on her bedside table, Lily noticed that she had spent nearly fifteen minutes worrying. She glanced down at her pants, which were still around her knees, and decided to take them off and replace them with her pajamas. Better safe than sorry, right?  
  
Lily left her room and headed to the kitchen to make herself some toast and tea. When she got to the kitchen, she saw Jill, who had apparently fallen asleep on the couch in the next room over. Lily laughed to herself as Jill rolled over and almost fell onto the ground. It wasn't until Lily's toast popped out of the toaster that Jill was startled awake.  
  
"Morning," Jill mumbled, more addressing the pillow rather than Lily.  
  
"Hey," responded Lily as she spread a heap of butter on her breakfast.  
  
Jill had finally managed to hoist herself off of the couch and was now searching through the cabinets to find the good cereal. "Ready for skiing today?" Jill asked while she poured herself a bowl. From the bright colors and cartoon characters on the box, Lily guessed that this particular cereal was packed with sugar. No wonder Jill seemed to always have so much energy.  
  
"Um, no," Lily responded.  
  
"No? You're not going skiing?"  
  
"No." Lily looked down at her toast and watched a little piece of butter slide down the slice and onto the plate.  
  
"What do you mean? Don't you want to ski?"  
  
Lily just looked at her food, hoping that an excuse would come knocking on the door. Interestingly enough, it did.  
  
"Open up, ladies!" called a voice from the other side of the front door. Lily let out a sigh and hurried to answer the door.  
  
"Evans!" exclaimed Sirius. You're up early."  
  
James stepped in after Sirius and waved at Jill in the kitchen. "How are you?" he asked.  
  
"Just fine," said Lily. "Not really up for skiing today...."  
  
"Neither are we," said Sirius. "Turns out our friend is arriving a day early."  
  
Lily's mouth dropped open. Remus was supposed to be coming tomorrow. If he was coming a day early, then that meant today. She wasn't ready for this. She didn't want to have Remus come any earlier, reminding her of how much danger they would all be in when the full moon shown.  
  
"Well, I want to ski," announced Jill.  
  
"Then you can, if you want to," said Sirius. "We're just going to go pick him up at the airport at around one 'o clock."  
  
"How about you and the others go without us," suggested Lily. This was turning out nicely, having an excuse not to go on the slopes.  
  
"Party-poopers," said Jill. She hurried off down the hallway to change and wake up Cassie and Bess.  
  
"Wanna come with us?" James asked Lily after Jill was gone.  
  
"To meet Remus? Isn't he just flying to your window or something?" asked Lily.  
  
"Nah, we cant risk him being seen. Plus, all the Muggle technology muddles with the brooms. We're meeting him at a clearing about a mile from the resort."  
  
Lily thought about whether or not she should go. She considered staying in her room and watching movies all day, but going to a clearing to meet Remus admittedly sounded much more exciting. "I'll come," she finally told James.  
  
  
Sirius said it would take about an hour to reach the spot where they were picking up Remus, so they decided they would leave at twelve 'o clock. That meant that they now had about five hours to do whatever they wanted.  
  
James suggested that they should go to the buffet for some breakfast. Lily had already had her piece of toast, but she decided that she definitely had room for the excellent waffles that were served in the dining room.  
  
The three found themselves in the big hall with the long table of seemingly endless supplies of food. Lily nearly forgot about her measly slice of bread when she smelled the wonderful wafts of fruit and freshly cooked sausage. The trio quickly made a beeline to the pancakes and began to pile their plates.  
  
Lily didn't remember how the boys had gotten onto the topic of electricity, but she found herself explaining everything she knew about light bulbs to them... which wasn't very much. Having only gone to Muggle primary school before Hogwarts, Lily only knew as much as an eleven year old would about the subject. Maybe she should have taken Muggle Studies after all....  
  
"So then it just lights up?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Basically," said Lily unsurely.  
  
"No _Lumos_?" said James.  
  
"Um, no. They just use a light switch.  
  
"Well, that's just impractical," muttered Sirius. He was gazing at the giant light fixtures that were hanging from the Dining Hall's ceiling.  
  
"Well," said Lily, "if you think about it, Muggles are actually more advanced than wizards."  
  
James and Sirius just stared dumbly at her.  
  
"You see, they discovered electricity and they have technology," continued Lily.  
  
More staring.  
  
"And Muggles have airplanes and televisions."  
  
"Yes, Evans, but we have _magic_ ," said Sirius. James nodded his head.  
  
"We can fly," added James.  
  
"And our pictures move," continued Sirius.  
  
"We have potions for almost anything."  
  
"House Elves do all of our work."  
  
"And they do it willingly," said James. "None of those silly revolts like in the Muggles' history."  
  
"Oh, and we can turn into animals."  
  
Suddenly James stiffened and so did Sirius.  
  
"Turning into animals?" asked Lily, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.  
  
"Erm... well, obviously... um, Sirius meant...," stammered James.  
  
"Only Animagi can do that, of course," said Sirius quickly.  
  
"Mmm hmm," Lily said while trying to figure out why the two boys were acting so strangely.  
  
"Merlin. look at the time!" exclaimed James suddenly. "It's almost nine! Well, let's not waste our day away, eating. Let's do something."  
  
"I want to do something," said Sirius, a little too enthusiastically.  
  
"Any ideas?" asked James.  
  
"Whatever is fine with me," Lily said.  
  
"Brilliant! Let's...." James started tapping his foot and drumming his fingers on the table as he thought of what activity they should do next. "Swim! How about swimming! I haven't been to the pool yet, have you?"  
  
Neither Lily nor Sirius had been swimming, so that became their plan. Lily quickly went back to her room to change and the boys did the same. This time, Lily decided to put a sundress over her bathing suit.  
  
In five minutes, Lily heard a knock on her door and in ten more minutes, the three were at the side of the pool.  
  
The journey down had taken a while. The usually reliable Elevator G only took them down to the Lobby and Elevator E turned out to be for staff members only. Elevator A led to the gift shop and Elevator C went to the laundry room. At last, it was Elevator B that let them off at the downstairs pool and spa.  
  
The pool was in a decent sized room. It was very echoey and unbelievably stuffy. Lily felt like she would suffocate if she didn't get out of there soon. Luckily, James spotted a door that led to the outdoor half of the pool, so that's where they headed.  
  
As Lily, James, and Sirius opened the door to outside, they were hit with a bone-chilling gust of cold air.  
  
"Isn't it summertime?" asked Lily through chattering teeth.  
  
"That's what we get fo being in the mountains," said Sirius.  
  
The nice thing about the brisk temperature, was that the actual water felt ten times warmer than usual. However, another downside was that every time Lily lifted so much as a finger above the surface, she felt as though a fine layer of ice was building up on the uncovered area. That's what you get for vacationing at a ski resort.  
  
But the nice thing about being in the mountains was the scenery. They were basically surrounded by incredible views. Lily's favorite part about swimming outside, though, was the thick mist that filled the air. It was so surreal and dream-like.  
  
Lily, James, and Sirius splashed around in the pool for a while, but once Sirius spotted the hot tub, there was no going back to the normal water. It was much smaller than the pool, so they kept kicking each other, but so much warmer. Lily finally felt comfortable.  
  
"Ah," said Sirius, stretching his arms, "this is the life."  
  
"I could go for a Butterbeer right now," said James. He slowly sank underwater until only his messy hair was left floating on the surface. Lily laughed at how ridiculous it looked as it stayed there, above his head. Then she giggled when he shot up from under the water, gasping for breath. "Aw, now my face is cold."  
  
"Oh, Prongs, what would we ever do with you?" asked Sirius.  
  
"You'll figure something out, Padfoot." James was now running his fingers through his wet hair, styling it so it stuck straight up. "But yikes, look at my fingers! I'm turning into a prune. It's time to get out of the water, I think."  
  
This was what Lily was dreading. She was so warm in the hot tub and the air was so cold. Logic told her that getting out of the pleasant water was a bad idea. Then again, she figured it wouldn't be too wise for her to waste away in the bubbles, so she reluctantly stood up. And then she groaned. It was as cold as she expected it would be, so she made up her mind to make a mad dash inside.  
  
James and Sirius had been smart enough to bring their towels outside with them, something Lily hadn't had the brains to do. Unlike Lily, they took their time wrapping themselves up and walking back to the indoor portion of the pool.  
  
"All right, Evans," Sirius said once he and James got inside, "the clock says it's forty-five minutes after ten, so we'll all get ready and then head out to get Remus."  
  
It wasn't until it was half past eleven when Lily started to suddenly feel nervous about meeting the third Marauder. She was in the bathroom, drying her hair, (with a hair dryer, something she dearly missed at Hogwarts) when she started to wonder about what she would say to Lupin.  
  
"Hello, Remus, I know you're a werewolf. Sorry bout that...," she spoke to her reflection in the mirror. That sounded horrible.  
  
"Remus, how are you? Having a good Summer? I hear you're going to be transforming into a wolf-man next week. Would you try not to kill any of my friends? Kay, thanks." Again. It just didn't sound right.  
  
She sighed and quickly braided her hair and covered her ears with her hat. She couldn't possibly see this going smoothly. Instead of fretting over it too much, though, Lily just grabbed her fleece and headed out the door.  
  
Lily met James and Sirius in the hallway. "Ready?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, we're ready," said James, glancing over a the clock on the wall. Lily saw that it was almost noon when they finally left the Christophe Brazier.  
  
It was chilly outside, but bearable. They walked down the road in silence, Sirius and James were huddled together as they studied the visitor's map that they had taken from the front lobby. "The map's upside down," Lily pointed out after a few minutes of watching the boys struggle.  
  
"Oh," said Sirius. "That makes sense."  
  
It turned out that they had been going in the wrong direction. James had told Remus to meet them in a small forrest preserve in the next town over. He said it would be safe there because he heard it was almost always abandoned. They soon found out why.  
  
The Ahurewa Forrest wasn't overcrowded with bears or a hunting ground. It wasn't haunted or particularly hilly. However, it was icy. It only took the three around twenty minutes to get to the park, but the meeting place was in the heart of the woods, and the thick layer of ice that covered the ground would definitely slow down their journey.  
  
As a child, her mother had signed Lily up for ice skating lessons at the local park district in Spinners End. She had only gone for a month before quitting. Something about gliding around on slippery ice, being supported by only two paper-thin blades made Lily extremely uncomfortable. Within those weeks of skating, Lily had face-planted and ran into more walls than any of the other kids in her class. When she finally broke her wrist, she knew she had had enough.  
  
Trudging through the Ahurewa Forrest was kind of like ice skating.  
  
"Lily, are you okay?" yelled James as Lily screeched. She had slipped right onto her backside and was slowly sliding down the foothill. James quickly turned around and glided down (much more gracefully) on his feet to where she was now laying.  
  
"Urgh, yeah," mumbled Lily, slightly embarrassed, "I'm fine. I'm just a little clumsy on ice."  
  
"I wouldn't have guessed." said James as he put his arm around her shoulders to help her to her feet. "You're a fairly good skier."  
  
Lily knew that she wasn't a bad skier. She had thought that her abilities on the skis would have made her balance a little better, but she had thought wrong.  
  
James kept his arm around Lily, keeping her from slipping again, as they continued through the thick crowd of evergreens.  
  
"So," said Lily, "you two haven't told me how you plan to deal with Remus on the full moon."  
  
James and Sirius exchanged glances. "We have our ways," said Sirius.  
  
"And Remus trusts you with your 'ways?'" asked Lily. She knew that Remus was not stupid. If he thought that whatever it was that James and Sirius were planning was safe, it probably was. Probably.  
  
"Yup," said Sirius and he suddenly slipped. He crashed right into James, who brought Lily down with him and all three of them started sliding forward, down the hill. Lily squealed as they gained speed, heading towards a clearing at the bottom. She scrunched her eyes shut, preparing for a collision. She had expected to hit a tree or a bush, but instead, James, who was in front of her, hit something else and she fell right onto him.  
  
Lily moaned as she lay with her head on James' heaving chest. It took her a minute to recover, but after she saw James smiling at her as she rested her cheek on his stomach, she quickly sat up, a small blush creeping across her face.  
  
"Lily?" asked the thing that they had just run into. She looked up to see Remus, holding a broom in one hand and a suitcase in the other. "What- what are you doing here?"  
  
Out of all of her rehearsed greetings she had practiced, literally running into Remus was not her first choice. "Hey, Remus. What's up?"  
  
"What- how? When did you- why are you... James? Sirius?" stuttered Remus.  
  
"James," said Lily, "did you not mention to Remus that I was here?" She raised her eyebrows, waiting for a response.  
  
"Surprise?" said James cautiously. He gave a measly crooked grin as he wiggled his fingers at his friend.  
  
"James, Sirius, could I talk to you in private?" said Remus and he pulled them behind a tree.  
  
Lily sat down in the icy snow. How could James not tell Remus that she was here, too? Why would he keep that a secret? She felt so embarrassed, like she wasn't supposed to be there. Plus, Remus must feel horribly awful. He didn't know Lily would be there, so he probably wasn't planning on revealing his secret. How was she going to tell him that she already knew what he was?  
  
When the three boys came back from behind the tree, Lily felt even worse when she noticed how ill Remus looked. He was pale and a bit scruffier than usual. Lily just tried to smile as they walked back to her, despite the fact she felt awfully sorry for the situation that Remus' friends had put him in.  
  
"So," said Remus, "you... know?"  
  
Lily nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"And...."  
  
"And I'm sorry. Sorry that you were bitten, sorry that I'm here, and sorry your friends aren't very good planners."  
  
Remus smiled at her. He always seemed to be able to cheer up, no matter what. "Don't worry, none of that was your fault. I'm glad to see you. How's your summer been?"  
  
This was why she always got along with Remus. "Well, so far, my summer has been spent with these baboons. How about you?"  
  
"Sorry you've been stuck with them," said Remus, pointing at Sirius and James who were lying on the ground and making snow angels.  
  
"It's been fine. I have some of my Muggle friends from Primary school with me to keep me sane."  
  
"Muggle friends? So they don't know about...?"  
  
"Magic? No, they don't," said Lily.  
  
"That's interesting," said Remus. "Where are they now?"  
  
"Oh, they're skiing, back at the resort."  
  
"Resort?" asked Remus, a surprised expression on his face.  
  
"Yeah, the Cristophe Briazier. That's where we're staying," said Lily.  
  
"At a ski resort?"  
  
Lily wasn't sure why Remus was suddenly so confused. "Yes, it's a ski resort."  
  
Remus suddenly spun around and headed towards James and Sirius. "A ski resort?!" he yelled at them. "A Muggle ski resort?"  
  
"Did we not mention that?" asked Sirius innocently.  
  
"No, you didn't! You mentioned that you were staying in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forests!" Remus shouted. Lily felt very awkward about being there as they yelled at each other, so she quickly turned her attention to a nearby bush and plucked at the branches.  
  
"Don't worry, Moony, there's plenty of trees for us to run around in. We can go all around the mountains," explained James.  
  
"Don't Moony me, James," said Remus, ignoring Sirius' giggles.  
  
"Oh, come on. Trust me, we'll all be fine," said James.  
  
But something about what James was saying struck funny in Lily's head. _Why is he saying 'we?' What does he mean when he said, 'there's plenty of trees for_ us _to run around in?_ Lily's head was rushing as she pieced it all together.  
  
"Um, James?" she piped up. All the boys turned to her. "Or, Prongs? So you and Sirius- or Padfoot- are going to be running around with Remus on full moon? Just answer me this. How many feet will you be running on?"  
  
"How many feet? What are you saying, Evans," said Sirius. He sounded confident, but it was clear that he and his other two friends were quickly becoming more and more shifty by the second.  
  
"I'm saying that when you run around with Remus while he's a werewolf, are you running around on two feet or four?" said Lily. Her curiosity was drowning her.  
  
Nobody spoke.  
  
"So you're Animagi," said Lily slowly and clearly.  
  
The boys just stood there, looking at Lily in with surprised expressions on their faces, so she took that as a "yes."  
  
Then she shocked them all by asking, "Could I see?"  
  
"Wait, what?" asked James, his mouth gaping.  
  
"Could I... could I see your Animagi forms?" she asked again.  
  
The boys exchanged glances, but eventually James nodded.  
  
"I guess," said Sirius as he shrugged his shoulders. And in one swift movement, James and Sirius leapt forward and transformed before her eyes.  
  
It was strange to look at. There were two beautiful creatures standing before Lily and even though they were only animals, she could almost sense their shyness. One of them, James she assumed, was a stag. He had moppy fur, much like James messy hair, and his head was tilted to the side. The big, black dog, who had to be Sirius, was panting with a big grin on his face and a wagging tail behind him. He had this mischievous look in his eyes that Lily recognized.  
  
She hadn't even thought about it, but before she realized what she was doing, Lily was petting Sirius' head. It seemed like the right thing to do, he was a dog, after all. Then, James the stag walked over to them and sat down. He bowed his head and nudged her with his antler and Lily could almost see his lop-sided grin as she reached her hand out to pat him, too.  
  
Remus was chuckling behind them. He probably thought it was comical seeing Lily pet his friends, but he didn't say anything.  
  
At last, Lily stopped and took a step back. "So," she said, "you're Animagi. _Illegal_ Animagi?"  
  
In a blur, James shifted back into himself. "Yeah, but how could we tell? We do it to protect Remus."  
  
Sirius returned to his human form, too and added, "The Ministry would never let us do it."  
  
"It's awfully dangerous," said Lily.  
  
"It's not that bad," said James. "Werewolf bites don't affect animals, so we're safe. We actually have fun."  
  
"And we can control ol' Moony this way," said Sirius.  
  
Lily sighed. "So, this is what you're going to do on the full moon next week? You'll run around the mountains as animals?"  
  
All three boys nodded.  
  
"Okay," she said quietly.  
  
"Really?" asked James. "You're all right with this?"  
  
"No, I wish you wouldn't to it. I don't want any of you getting hurt, but," she took a deep breath, "I really respect your loyalty to your friend. I would have done the same thing."  
  
James smiled at her and Sirius let out a whoop.  
  
"Thanks, Lily," said Remus.  
  
"Whoa! Would you look at the time? We have to head back. The girls are going to be finished skiing soon," said James and he headed off into the forest.


	14. The Guest

"Oh, hello there," said Jill as she stumbled into the hotel room with Bess and Cassie stomping down the hallway behind her. "And you are...?"  
  
"I'm Remus," said Remus, holding out his hand. Jill took it and smiled at him. "You must be one of Lily's friends."  
  
"I am! Are you one of James and Sirius'?" she asked while trying to fix her hair.  
  
"Yeah, I go to school with them and Lily."  
  
"Hogwarts?" said Jill. "What do you study?"  
  
Remus whipped his head around, eyes wide and confused. "They know about Hogwarts?" he mouthed at Lily.  
  
Lily just giggled to herself. "Remus works with pottery. You should see the beautiful bowls he's made... just brilliant."  
  
"He uses the most vivid colours," added Sirius.  
  
"Fine craftsmanship," said James and he looked off into the distance, as if he could see one of Remus' imaginary pots just outside the window.  
  
The three let out an almost perfectly in-sync sigh before proceeding to the kitchen to make themselves a snack. Remus just stared at them dumbly, wondering when exactly Lily had put aside her hatred for James and Sirius and signed up to become the first Marauderess.  
  
"Yeah, I like pots," he said and followed the others into the kitchen.  
  
"So how was skiing?" Lily asked.  
  
"It was fine," said Cassie. "It was a bit colder, but that was-"  
  
"So, do you make anything other than bowls?" cut in Jill.  
  
"Wha-?" Remus spun around. "Oh. Sure. A few... figurines. I've made figurines."  
  
"That's really cool!" said Jill and she let out a little giggle.  
  
Lily almost laughed, herself, as she watched Jill shamelessly flirting with the slightly dazed Remus.  
  
"So what's for dinner?" asked Sirius.  
  
  
They decided to order pizza from a little shop next to the hotel. It was alright, but Lily thought the cheese was a bit too stringy, and her suspicion was confirmed when James suddenly broke out in a violent fit of coughing.  
  
"Gack! Ah! Cah!" sputtered James.  
  
"Bluck, shmuck, tack!" responded Sirius energetically, not taking his eyes off his own slice of pizza.  
  
"Sirius! Can't you see he's choking?" Lily shouted. She jumped out of her chair and rushed over to James' aid. But when she got to him, she realized that she wasn't exactly sure what to do. There weren't First Aid classes at Hogwarts.... After a few moments of pondering, Lily decided to simply pat James on the back until his gagging stopped.  
  
"Uh, thanks," he said awkwardly. "And no thanks to you mate!" he directed at Sirius who seemed to be trying very hard to keep a straight face.  
  
"Seriously, Prongs, you should have seen your face," said Sirius. He scrunched up his eyes and stuck out his tongue, surprisingly accurate to James' expression. James just rolled his eyes at him.  
  
"You looked like Wormtail that time in fourth year when Snivellus charmed his face into a fish," added Remus thoughtfully. "Oh, sorry Lily... sore subject."  
  
"No, no," said Lily, "it's fine. Severus and I aren't friends anymore, so it doesn't matter."  
  
Remus just stared blankly at her. What had happened over these few weeks?  
  
"Plus," Lily added, "Sev was the one hurting Peter... that time. It's not like you were the ones hoisting him up by his ankle... that time." Lily shot a piercing glare in Jame's direction.  
  
There was the fiery Lily Remus was used to.  
  
"Wait, back up," said Cassie. The others had almost forgotten that Lily's friends were there. "Who's Wormtail and how was his face _charmed_?"  
  
A pit of fear welled up inside of Lily. Remus had clearly just said that Peter had been charmed by Sev. She tried to think of a reasonable excuse, but she couldn't grasp at any strings.  
  
"Oh, did he say charmed? Well, that's just... lingo at Hogwarts. What happened was... um... Severus Snape, you know him, Cassie," Lily stuttered.  
  
"Was that the pale one you introduced me to last summer? The greasy one?" asked Cassie.  
  
"He wasn't--" Lily started, but she decided to leave it alone. "Anyway, like I was saying, Severus pulled a prank on James, Sirius, and Rumus' other friend named Peter, or Wormtail. You see, Sev sorta... painted Peter's face while Peter was sleeping. Sev's a fine arts major." Lily quickly looked around, begging that one of the boys would help her out. No takers. "And then, Sev painted a fish on Peter. So Peter looked like a fish."  
  
The others just looked at her; the girls wish confused expressions and the boys with amused ones.  
  
"Okay..." said Jill, though it didn't look like she believed Lily's story. "But you mentioned something about Severus being hoisted up by his ankle? How could they do that?"  
  
"Yeah, that kid wasn't light, as I recall," said Cassie.  
  
Lily's head was spinning. Her friends were throwing so many questions at her and she couldn't answer them all at once. And she definitely couldn't answer them truthfully.  
  
"Wait," said Bess, "I've forgotten who Severus is."  
  
"It's Lily's friend," said Cassie.  
  
" _Was_ my friend. Not anymore."  
  
"And Peter?"  
  
"He was James' and Sirius' and Remus' friend."  
  
" _Is_ our friend. He still is," pointed out James.  
  
"But Lily, why aren't you friends with Severus anymore?"  
  
"Because--" Lily started.  
  
"Because he's a slimy prick," finished Sirius.  
  
"He is not!" shouted Lily. She stood up abruptly, bumping the table they were eating at and jumbling the plates and glasses. A bit of water poured onto the tablecloth and a fork fell onto the floor.  
  
"Lily," said James softly, "you don't have to defend him anymore." He also stood up and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't protest, but Lily still wasn't used to where her loyalties now lay. Severus had been her best friend for years and she was used to standing up for him. Her enemy had always been the Marauders, but now the tables were turned and everything felt so strange all of a sudden.  
  
"Sorry," said Lily quietly and she sat back down. "It's just that I keep forgetting..."  
  
"That's okay," said Remus with a faint smile. Lily noticed that he was even more pale than before, when they had met him in the woods. She wondered how many more nights until the full moon.  
  
"Hey, Lily," said Sirius suddenly, "I actually have a question about the summer reading assignment. You brought your copy of Romeo and Jenny- I mean Juliet- with you, right?"  
  
Lily paused.  
  
"Oh yeah, I had some questions, as well," piped in James.  
  
Lily looked at Remus, who shrugged.  
  
"Yes," said Lily cautiously, "I brought it." She noticed James pointing towards the hallway. "It's in my room," she added.  
  
"Are you just all getting up and leaving?" asked Cassie, looking suspicious.  
  
"We'll only be a minute," promised Lily. "You coming, Remus?"  
  
Remus nodded and quickly got up to follow his friends to Lily's room. She wished she had tidied up a little.  
  
"So Moony," started James as he brushed off a pair of Lily's panties from the bed in order to make room, "we needed to get you away from Lily's Muggle friends to tell you something. There's a bit of an issue."  
  
Lily's cheeks turned as red as her hair as she watched her undergarments being gently tossed onto the floor panels.  
  
"Might it be the fact that you brought me, under false pretenses, to a crowded Muggle ski resort to transform into a werewolf?"  
  
"Interestingly enough, that isn't it," said Sirius.  
  
"Typical," moaned Remus. He moved a pair of worn socks off Lily's pillow so he could stuff his face in it.  
  
"There are Death Eaters here."  
  
Lily was surprised to see that Remus could actually turn a lighter shade of white.  
  
"Death Eaters? Voldemort's guys?" stuttered Remus.  
  
"Yeah, they wanted me to join up, or something," said James.  
  
"You? Why?" Remus looked extremely worried.  
  
"Something about Purebloods and all that rubbish."  
  
"This is serious," said Remus.  
  
"You don't think I don't know that? Like I told you when I wrote you, the Death Eaters killed my uncle and aunt and my cousin. And that's not all, they tried kidnapping Lily! They couldl have hurt her," said James with a scowl. Lily looked up upon hearing her name. She had been in the middle of trying to tidy up her room by pushing a pile of clothes into a corner.  
  
"They didn't hurt me," she said.  
  
"But they almost did. It wont happen again," said James reassuringly. Lily smiled at him softly, a little flattered by his protectiveness.  
  
"Okay," butted in Lupin, "this might be a bit irrelevant, but when did you two and Lily become best mates? If I'm not mistaken, the last time I checked, Lily hated you both."  
  
The room suddenly became quiet.  
  
"I'm not quite sure," said Lily, at last, breaking the silence.  
  
"We ran into Lily and her friends in the elevator," said James.  
  
"And then we just started... hanging out with them," finished Sirius.  
  
"That's it?" asked Remus. "I'm not upset, I'm actually glad you all are friendly now, it's just... different seeing you two," he pointed at James and Lily, "not fighting. It's nice."  
  
"Oh," said Lily. She really hadn't put much thought into her- could it be a friendship?- with James and Sirius. She had always liked Remus, he was always perfectly kind during prefect duties, and Peter was tolerable. But how come she now _liked_ hanging out with Potter and Black? These were the same boys who snuck a miniature fire crab in her book bag in second year. These were the same boys who had copied off her Potions essay and gotten her in trouble with Slughorn. These were the same boys who constantly bullied the Slytherin who used to be her best friend.  
  
Lily looked back on the last couple of days. James and Sirius weren't as immature or annoying as they were at school. They had been fun, easy-going, and friendly.  
  
"Well, it seems when these two," she said, motioning at James and Sirius, "are away from magic, they become much more reasonable."  
  
"What?" asked James, who looked like he had just been punched in the stomach. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I mean, you aren't hexing anyone. You used to go down the corridors jinxing Sev or some younger kids, just for a laugh."  
  
James thought about this for a while. "Sure, we pulled some pranks, but I think you're being unfair. It's not like we cursed innocent kids! We always had reasons."  
  
Lily began to protest, but Sirius cut her off. "I know you're about to go into some fit about Snape, but when will you realize that he deserved what he got? He isn't a good guy, Evans."  
  
"He was though! He used to be...," she trailed off. Severus was always someone she could trust. When he told her about all of the awful things that the Marauders had done to him, she trusted him when he said that he didn't deserve it. Did he? She quickly shoved that thought out of her head. She knew Severus. He was good, at least before he started hanging around with wannabe Death Eaters.  
  
"What did he do wrong when... when you hung him upside down by his ankle and choked him with soap bubbles?" Lily asked. She already know the answer. When she had yelled at James that day after the O.W.L.s, asked him what Severus had done to him, and his witty response was, "It's more that he exists."  
  
James was completely silent. Lily could tell that he remembered exactly what his answer was.  
  
"Merlin," he said as he ruffled his hair. "Lily, I'm sorry. You're right. I guess we don't always think... I just thought I was being funny, but I can see how it wasn't actually a joke." Lily almost laughed at how awkward James suddenly looked. He was fidgeting with his fingers and shifting his weight back and forth between his feet.  
  
Sirius was looking at him, seemingly repulsed by James sudden emotional turn. "It's not like we don't have our wands, though. I even stunned that Death Eater when they snatch you, Lily."  
  
"Wait," said Lily, "you did magic! Shouldn't the Ministry have realized that you did underage magic?"  
  
"A few summers ago, I used _lumos_ and I got sent a warning from the Ministry. Sirius, you're not seventeen, so you've still got the trace on you," said Remus.  
  
Lily was stumped. She hadn't a clue how Sirius got away with underage magic, but she knew that there were greater problems. "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. We need to talk about how you will keep Remus away from the resort when he... you know, transforms."  
  
"Don't worry about that, Lily. We have pretty good control over ol Moony when he's all wolfy," said Sirius, patting Remus on the head as he spoke.  
  
"Gerroff me," mumbled Remus as he shoved Sirius aside.  
  
"Yeah, you wont have to worry about that. Death Eaters are a bit more of a threat than Remus," said James.  
  
"Fine," said Lily, "but please be careful. It's so dangerous and I don't want anyone getting hurt."  
  
"Don't worry, Lily," said James as he patted her on the shoulder, "everything is going to be fine."


	15. The Sleepover

The next week passed much too quickly for Lily's liking. Sure, she was having tons of fun with her friends and three-fourths of the Marauders, but she knew, in the back of her mind, that soon Remus was going to transform. She really didn't know what to expect. If this whole 'werewolf' thing was as harmless as James and Sirius claimed it was, then there would be nothing to worry about. But something told Lily that the werewolf Remus wouldn't be as gentle or kind as the real one.  
  
Skiing helped take her mind off the full moon, but when she wasn't fretting about Remus, she was on the lookout for Death Eaters. Another encounter like the one at the restaurant would be terrifying. Lily wasn't even afraid of being attacked herself, though. She was much more concerned with the welfare of her Muggle friends, who didn't even have wands to defend themselves. This ski trip was turning into a much more chaotic vacation than she had planned.  
  
It had been twelve days since Lily had arrived at the Christophe Brazier ski resort. Remus had come halfway through their time and tomorrow he would transform.  
  
Up until the day before, Remus had joined the others on the slopes, snowboarding with James and Sirius. Lily had actually been a bit shocked the first time she saw Remus getting ready to go with them. She had come to get James and Sirius, when she saw Remus all geared up, but under his scarf, he looked much too sick to go out on a mountain. Despite his health, Remus was determined to have fun and it didn't seem like sickness was holding him back. He was laughing and joking as much as the other boys, which Lily was happy to see. She had actually thought that he would be left back in the hotel room, by himself, slowly preparing for the full moon.  
  
That was what he had to do currently. With only a day left until his transformation, Remus was too frail to ski anymore. He told Cassie, Bess, and Jill that he must have caught some sort of food poisoning from the garlic soup he had had the night before. Jill was very disappointed (she rather fancied Remus, Lily suspected) and would occasionally wonder out loud how he was doing.  
  
"Do you think he will feel better by the end of the week? I really hope he does," she said while they were all taking a lunch break at the bottom of the hill.  
  
"He should be just fine," said James as he took a large bite from his turkey sandwich.  
  
"I'd say, that if today is... what is it today?" said Sirius.  
  
"It's Thursday," responded Cassie.  
  
"Thanks," said Sirius. "Well, if today is Thursday, then I reckon he'll be fine by Wednesday or even Tuesday if he's lucky."  
  
"Really?" asked Lily. She wondered if that was how long it usually takes for Remus to recover. She thought back to the last few years, trying to think of all the times Remus had been absent. It was quite a lot. Lily was amazed that he got such good grades, even though he missed so many classes.  
  
"Yeah, that's about as long as it usually takes," said Sirius. He went back to devouring the massive ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon sandwich that he had made himself.  
  
Today was much colder than the others, so the group ate quickly and mostly in silence. They had decided that, after lunch, they would just ski a few more runs before turning in for the day. At the girls' room, there was plenty of food, so they were going to cook up a dinner and maybe watch another movie. Sirius was the most excited about this. "I'm so taking Muggle Studies next year," he had told Lily, Remus, and James after they had watched "The Sound Of Music" a few nights ago.  
  
  
The last few runs were painfully cold, and Lily couldn't manage to pull her scarf up far enough to cover her nose. She also felt like she was getting a nasty windburn. Although she complained internally about the temperature, she couldn't help but marvel over the beautiful scenery surrounding her. There was hardly a single cloud in the bright blue sky. The white mountains contrasted nicely with the trees that littered its surface. Lily wished she had a camera to take a picture.  
  
Even though she would've rather stared at the landscape around her, Lily turned her thoughts to the forrest they were skiing beside. It was the same one where she, James, and Sirius had met the Death Eater. She shivered, and not because of the cold. They hadn't seen any Death Eaters since they had tried to kidnap her at lunch, but Lily (and the boys as well) were constantly on the look out.  
  
At the end of the run, the group decided to call it quits. As Lily looked around, she laughed upon seeing the bright red faces of her friends. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who was windburned.  
  
Remus didn't join them for dinner. James told Lily that he needed to rest now and he couldn't be around anybody so soon before transforming. Sirius and James did have dinner with them, though, but they didn't stay too long.  
  
"We should really go back to help him," James told her in an undertone.  
  
Lily nodded and tried to hide her disappointment that he and Sirius were leaving. She hated herself for it, but she really did like their company. "Will you be skiing tomorrow, then?" she asked James before he left.  
  
"We'll have to see," he sighed. "It really depends how old Remy's feeling in the morning."  
  
"You sound like his mother," Lily pointed out.  
  
James laughed and said goodbye after he pulled Sirius off the couch. Sirius had been very deep in conversation with Cassie, who was now blushing and looking rather smitten.  
  
"Do you have to go?" she asked, sounding like a little child.  
  
"We can continue this tomorrow," he said, winking at her flirtatiously.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes and pushed him out the door, after James. "G'night, Black."  
  
"Sweet dreams, Evans," he said before jogging down the hallway to catch up with James. She closed the door behind him and turned back to her friends.  
  
"That Sirius Black is quite a looker," sighed Cassie and Lily plopped down on the couch next to her. Lily giggled at the dreamy-looking Cassie. There was a pang of sadness Lily felt as she realized how little time she got to spend with her old friends. She didn't know what any of them were like in school. Obviously, they had remained friends, but they were so distant. Lily had started noticing little inside jokes that Cassie, Bess, and Jill all shared. Funny handshakes and stories from their own school made Lily feel a little left out. Cassie continued talking, dragging Lily out of her trance. "Is he single?"  
  
"Hm?" asked Lily. Admittedly, she hadn't been paying much attention to that friend that she missed so much.  
  
"Sirius. Does he have a girlfriend back at your school?" asked Cassie, nervously.  
  
"Not currently, I don't think," said Lily. This was true. Even though Sirius had had his fair share of girls interested in the last few years, at this moment, he was a free man.  
  
Cassie smiled. "I really like him."  
  
"I can tell," said Lily.  
  
She stared off into the distance, lost in thought.  
  
Lily had never been at all attracted to Sirius, ever. He had always been the annoying Marauder who was meanest to Sev. He was a bully. He and James would go strutting about the castle, expecting their fellow students to bow down at their feet. Arrogant, would be an appropriate word to describe the duo.  
  
But they weren't arrogant now, were they? Lily had gone over this so many times in her own head that she was sick of even thinking about it. Whatever James and Sirius were now, was different from their usual pompous attitudes.  
  
"Is he always this charming at school?" Cassie said.  
  
"Sirius?" asked Lily and Cassie nodded. "You could say that." She decided not to mention the bullying side of Sirius. It was unnecessary to bring up.  
  
"You said that you hated them," said Cassie, "when we first saw James and Sirius in the elevator."  
  
"Yeah," said Lily. She paused, waiting to see where this was going, though she already had a pretty good idea.  
  
"Well, you don't act like you hate them," said Cassie.  
  
"Yeah," repeated Lily mechanically.  
  
"So... what's changed?" said Cassie, getting a little annoyed now. "Were they really that bad?"  
  
"Look," said Lily, thinking her words over very carefully, "the last few years, Sirius, James, Remus, and their friend, Peter, have been causing chaos at school. They pranked people, teased people, and I can't even tell you how many detentions they've gotten themselves into the last few years."  
  
"They're a bit too rowdy for perfect Miss Lily, eh?" said Cassie.  
  
"Hey!" said Lily defensively.  
  
"Oh, come on, Lily. Even when we were little, you were always the kid who coloured inside the lines."  
  
Lily though about this. She _had_ always been a bit of a goody two shoes. But she wasn't really, was she? She had talked back to that young Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in fourth year when he was being a jerk to that Hufflepuff. She had once snuck a firewhisky from the Hog's Head into the dorms. And there was that time when she hooked up with Nathaniel Hopkins in the broom closet last year. That counted for something, didn't it?  
  
"Anyway," said Cassie as she stood up and fixed her hair, "they seem like really nice guys to me. You know I say this with love but... maybe you need to loosen up a little?" That would have sounded harsh coming from anybody else, but Lily could tell that Cassie just wanted to help. "Plus," she added before leaving the room, "everyone can tell that James fancies you. Maybe if you opened up a little bit...." She wiggled her eyebrows and laughed as she left Lily sitting by herself on the couch.  
  
 _Everyone can tell that James facies you,_ continued to ring in Lily's head, even while she sat alone in the living room. But she knew that. James had made it very clear and _very_ public that he wanted a date out of her. He had bloody screamed it in the middle of Herbology last year!  
  
Lily huffed and shoved her head in her hands. She did not want to deal with this. She did not want to think about stupid James Potter or especially how she felt towards that stupid James Potter. She really wanted to enjoy the rest of her vacation without worrying about James making a move.  
  
 _I have been leading him on though, haven't I,_ Lily thought, remembering back to that night he had kissed her at the hot chocolate social. She hadn't exactly resisted... And then there was the night that James got that letter and she had kissed him on the cheek...  
  
Lily quickly stood up, determined that she was going to simply climb into bed and forget all of it. The kisses, the laughs, the frequent glances in his direction. But hard as she tried, she couldn't shake James from her mind. As she tried, desperately, to fall asleep, all she could think of was what James had told her in the Lobby the day after the Hot Chocolate Social, _"You've fallen in love with me!"_  
  
  
Lily heard the door creak ever so softly the next morning. But she didn't stir. She just slightly opened her eyes to see the reason for her door being opened. It was James.  
  
She didn't move, not a bit. Keeping her eyes just barely opened, Lily just watched as James snuck into her room.  
  
It was bright in the bedroom, so it had to be morning, but Lily was still confused and a little concerned about why James was coming in. She watched as he snuck in and quietly closed the door behind him and then paused. Lily had expected him to at least wake her up, but instead, he just watched her. That was borderline creepy.  
  
Luckily, it didn't last too long and soon James walked all the way over to the bed and tapped her arm.  
  
"Lily?" he whispered. "Lily, come on, you have to wake up now."  
  
She moved around a little, pretending to just wake up. Opening her eyes all the way, she could see that James was bent down next to her bed, his face only a foot away from her own.  
  
"It's nearly eleven thirty," said James, smiling. His hand shot to his hair to ruffle it when Lily stared at him.  
  
"Eleven thirty?" Lily asked, a little panicked. Had the others left to go ski without her?  
  
"Yeah," said James, "there was a huge snowstorm last night. It's actually really bad... the resort can't even get the chair lifts to run."  
  
Lily sat straight up, and stared James down.  
  
"Um, sorry, but what's with the death-glare?" said James nervously.  
  
"You stopped them from working, didn't you? You and Sirius didn't want to have any Muggles in the way for the full moon tonight, isn't that right? You know you can't interfere with technology like that! The Ministry is going to come and they are going to--"  
  
James quickly sat down on the bed next to Lily and held both her shoulders. "Evans," he said, "if you could stop you ranting for two seconds, that'd be lovely."  
  
"But you can't used magic out of school, you and Sirius know that!" protested Lily as she tried to wriggle out of James' grasp. She felt quite flustered with his hands on her bare shoulders. She had only worn a spaghetti strapped shirt to bed.  
  
"Stop fussing," James said, holding Lily still. "It wasn't us. Sure, it would be best if there weren't any Muggle's on the hill when Remus transforms, but we wouldn't go this far with it. So stop worrying so much." Then he sort of chuckled at himself like he had just told a joke or something. He was still holding onto Lily's shoulders and she couldn't stop herself from gazing into his eyes. She hated this. She just wanted it to stop. She tried to tell herself that it was simply her dumb teenage hormones acting up and that she needed to stop it from going any farther. Lucky for her, that was when Sirius burst into the room yelling, "Snooowww dayyyy!"  
  
For a moment, Sirius just stared at Lily and James on the bed. Then, he found his voice. "Well, this is awkward. Sorry I interrupted your little snog-fest," he said, winking.  
  
"No problem," said James, not protesting as Lily threw his hands off her shoulders, "we were almost done anyway." He looked back to Lily, who was scowling at him. "I'm going to go have a snack. How about one more snog before I go?" he asked, leaning in.  
  
"Shove off, Potter," said Lily, pushing him back. She quickly tried scratching her nose to cover up the blush that was now spreading across her cheeks. Oh, curse her pale skin.  
  
"How about for me?" asked Sirius, grinning.  
  
"Shut it," Lily warned. Both boys just laughed at her as they left, each blowing kisses to her on the way out.  
  
Lily shoved her head into her pillow and let out a nice scream. After she finished letting out her bottled up anger, Lily quickly changed into sweatpants and a jumper and joined the others in the kitchen.  
  
"What are we going to do today?" Cassie was asking the others when Lily came in.  
  
"I vote we watch more movies," said Sirius. He really was a fan of the television.  
  
"But we've already watched all the ones that I brought with me," said Jill, shrugging her shoulders. "By the way, how is Remus today?"  
  
"He's still pretty sick," said James, "but I think he'll be getting better soon."  
  
Lily tensed. Today was the day. Remus was going to transform tonight and there was nothing she could do to help. It was crazy that she actually trusted that James and Sirius were going to be able to control the werewolf on the mountains. She shuddered just thinking about them running through the forrest that may, or may not, be filled with Death Eaters.  
  
"So what's the plan?" asked Lily, trying to shove the awful thoughts of poor Remus being torn apart into a monster into the back of her mind.  
  
"Well," said Bess, who had just finished eating her toast, "we can't ski, obviously. We have to say inside."  
  
"Thanks for pointing that out," said Jill, her comment dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"Do you have any ideas?" said Bess, clearly annoyed at Jill.  
  
"Come on guys," said Lily, stepping in, "let's just think of something, okay?"  
  
Everyone just sat in silence for a while. Lily waited for somebody else to suggest something, but nobody did. James just looked around at the others, clearly all out of ideas, while Sirius didn't even hide the fact that he had nothing to say. The second boy clucked his tongue in a rather obnoxious fashion and tapped his foot until Cassie finally spoke. She was never one for silences.  
  
"Look, why don't we just relax?" she said. It was, sadly, the best idea anyone had had. Everyone nodded in agreement and headed over to the living room, where they proceeded to sit down.  
  
But then there was more silence.  
  
Had they really used up all their conversation? It had only been a couple weeks since they had all been there and Lily couldn't remember any other time where anyone had any trouble with thinking up something to say. Lily turned her attention to the boys. It was clear that they were restless for the full moon tonight. James was twiddling his thumbs at a rapid pace and Sirius' feet were tapping.  
  
All of the sudden, Jill jumped out of her chair. "I brought cards! Let's play cards!"  
  
They all cheered as she ran to her room to grab her deck and some poker chips. Everything sort of picked up from there. They were laughing at James' horrible poker face and at Cassie, who kept accidentally showing her cards to everybody. Lily was surprisingly good at Blackjack. She won almost every time and when she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, James even followed her in to ask if she had been using magic.  
  
"Of course I haven't!" she said, not sure whether to be offended that he would think her a cheater or flattered that he thought she was that good.  
  
"Well, you're awfully good, then," he said laughing and grabbing a glass from the cabinet. Lily was about to leave when he spoke again. "Your friends were thinking of having a sleepover..."  
  
"They were now?" asked Lily. She heard Cassie's delighted cheers coming from the other room and Sirius' protests.  
  
"Yup," continued James, "and guess who's invited?"  
  
"Not you?" said Lily nervously.  
  
James nodded his head. Lily thought everything over. What would a sleep over include? Pillow fights? Popcorn? Not movies, they had watched them all... Maybe spin the bottle? For a moment, Lily lost her breath. She didn't want to play spin the bottle with James and Sirius!  
  
"Well then," said Lily, at last, "where will we all be sleeping?"  
  
James smiled, probably glad that she hadn't turned down the idea. "Jill said that we could all sleep on the couches in your living room. We have a bunch of our pillows we could bring over from our rooms, too," he said, still smiling.  
  
"Sounds like fun," said Lily calmly. _Look who's outgoing now, Cassie._  
  
But then Lily was reminded of the half werewolf a couple floors down. "What about Remus?" asked Lily and James' smily faded.  
  
"I was just thinking about that, too," he said. "But I have a plan!" Lily rolled her eyes at him, but let him keep talking. "Sirius and I will just wake up at around twelve thirty and go meet Remus. He's already gone to one of the abandoned warming huts this morning."  
  
"He's out there, sick, in the cold?!" asked Lily. Shocked. That's all she was. She had seen Remus, briefly, yesterday and he looked close to death.  
  
"Hold on," said James, trying to calm Lily, "don't worry. That's always what he does."  
  
"He waits in the cold all day?" said Lily, completely flabbergasted.  
  
"Yeah, just when we're at Hogwarts, he goes to the Shrieking Shack."  
  
Lily thought this over. Maybe it made sense, but every part of her brain was yelling that it was wrong to let a sick boy on a mountain.  
  
"Fine," she finally agreed and quickly walked back to the living room to join the game.  
  
  
That night, the boys grabbed all the pillows in their rooms and brought them to the girls'. They did have a pillow fight, which was a lot of fun. They eventually stopped because Sirius had nearly broken an expensive looking lamp. After that, they played some more cards.

  
Once Lily had a fair share of poker chips, Cassie had another suggestion. Lily wasn't sure if it was much better than spin the bottle. "How about we play Truth or Dare?" Cassie asked and everyone was enthusiastic. Except Lily. She smiled, she really did, but on the inside, she was squirming like mad.  
  
Truth or Dare... Truth or Dare... Lily thought back to every time she had actually played that game. Sometimes, she had played with Mary and some of the other Gryffindor girls, but they were much more laid back than her Muggle friends. The truths were little things like, "Who do you have a crush on?" or, "What did you really get on that last Potions paper?" And the dares weren't much to worry about, either. Mostly, they were petty, like, "Go run out in the cold without your traveling coat," or "I dare you to put a hex on that annoying third year Ravenclaw." Lily honestly didn't know what playing with Cassie, Jill, and Bess would be like. Not to mention James and Sirius.  
  
She held her breath as they sat in a circle and Cassie looked around for her first victim. Something told Lily that Cassie wouldn't go easy on anybody.  
  
"Sirius," said Cassie abruptly, "truth or dare?"  
  
"Dare," said Sirius confidently. He didn't even flinch.  
  
"I dare you to play the rest of the game with your shirt off," Cassie said with a smirk.  
  
Before Lily could blink, Sirius ripped his shirt off and tossed it aside. _Oh, Merlin,_ thought Lily, _I did not need to see that..._  
  
"Done," said Sirius. "Me next?" Cassie nodded and Sirius turned to the others. Lily was sure that he would pick James, so he was surprised when he chose Bess.  
  
"Alright, Bessy, truth or dare?"  
  
"First off, please don't call me Bessy. And truth, I guess," said Bess. She looked about as nervous as Lily felt.  
  
"Where was your first kiss?" asked Sirius. Lily thought that that was an odd question, coming from Sirius. She thought he would ask something much less personal.  
  
Bess had turned a light pink colour. "It was in the school car park," she said, giggling.  
  
"Not bad," said Sirius, clearly itching to tell his own story.  
  
"What about you, mate?" asked James to Sirius. It seemed like Lily wasn't the only one who noticed Sirius' longing.  
  
"It was the end of first year, in a broom closet." This earned some oohs from the girls.  
  
"With who?" asked Lily, actually very curious.  
  
"Mary MacDonald," said Sirius.  
  
If Lily had been eating anything at the time, she would have choked. "Mary?" she asked, appalled. "You snogged Mary?!"  
  
"Has she not told you?" asked Sirius. He was grinning at her.  
  
"No she has not! I will have to have a word with her..." Lily wanted, very badly, to write a letter to Mary right then, but restrained herself.  
  
They moved on, Bess picked Jill, which wasn't surprising. "Dunk your head in freezing water," Bess said after Jill picked dare.  
  
After Jill filled up a pot and dunked her head (which, to Lily, looked awful) Lily expected to be called on next. But Jill picked James, instead.  
  
It seemed, after that last cringe-worthy dare, that everyone was starting to find truths a bit more attractive. Even the mighty James Potter.  
  
"Definitely truth. There's no way I'm sticking my head in anything that isn't, at least, room temperature," said James.  
  
"Alright, then," said Jill, thinking over her question. "Here's one. Do you fancy anyone?"  
  
"Yup," said James, with a little smile.  
  
Lily could actually hear her own heart start to beat louder. She wished it would stop, but she was dead terrified of what James would say.  
  
"Who is it, then?" asked Jill, not hiding her excitement. She had really perked up in her seat.  
  
"Lily."  
  
Everyone turned to look at her. Lily turned the colour of her hair. This was embarrassing. And sort of awkward.  
  
But if she hated it so much, why did she have to try so hard to stop herself from smiling?  
  
"But you knew that already, of course," said James, ruffling his hair. Lily noticed that his cheeks were a little pinkish, too.  
  
"Yeah, I did," was all she could think to say.  
  
Lily's friends were all staring at her with equally stupid, open-mouthed expressions. Before any of the girls could speak, though, Sirius piped up.  
  
"Well, I'm tired. Shall we go to sleep?" he asked as he turned off the lights.  
  
Everyone blindly made their way to their designated sleeping spots and Lily found herself rather close to James. She gulped, something that sounded much louder in the darkness, and waited for him to speak first.  
  
"Sorry that was... awkward for you," he whispered after a moment of complete silence.  
  
She turned over to look at him. James had taken his glasses off, which was strange. Lily couldn't remember ever seeing him without his round lenses, now that she thought about it. It was weird, but definitely not a bad kind of weird. Then she remembered that he had spoken.  
  
"No, it's fine," she said as quietly as possible.  
  
"I'm sure you expected it," James said. He was half smiling and Lily desperately wanted to know what was going on inside his mind.  
  
"Sort of," she responded and she didn't look him in the eye.  
  
They laid there for a while. Lily felt uncomfortable falling asleep, but she knew that, soon enough, James and Sirius would be out running around the mountains, chasing around a werewolf.  
  
After some time of listening to everyone else's steady breathing, Lily found herself about to drift off when the voice beside her woke her up.  
  
"Lily?" said James. He was barely audible, but it was enough to get Lily's full attention.  
  
"What is it?" she whispered back.  
  
"I think we're going to leave now," he said and slowly sat up. Lily wasn't sure why, but she found herself sitting up beside him.  
  
"Are you scared?" she asked. She could tell that she was.  
  
"Naw, we've done it before," James said. He slipped his glasses back on and straightened them out on the bridge of his nose. Lily watched him as he slowly arranged his pillows and she could sense that, despite his attempts to cover it up, he was nervous. He just wouldn't stop fiddling with his pillow.  
  
When he was about to get up to leave, Lily grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the ground. "Please be careful," she said, trying to stall. She didn't want him to leave. She didn't want him to get hurt.  
  
"Of course," he told her, smiling more confidently for her sake. Again, he was about to stand when he turned back to her. "You never got a truth or dare."  
  
"Well, this is hardly the time for it," said Lily.  
  
"Oh, come on. Truth or dare?" he asked.  
  
Lily thought this over very carefully. If she chose truth, she would have to answer right then. If she chose dare, maybe there would be a possibility of waiting to do it in the morning.  
  
"Dare," she finally decided.  
  
"How about a good luck kiss, eh?" asked James, grinning.  
  
He probably couldn't see well in the dark, but Lily rolled her eyes at him despite it. "Truth, then," she said and he laughed.  
  
"Fine," he said and he paused to think of a question. "What is your biggest fear?"  
  
"Right now," said Lily, "it's one of you getting hurt. What if you or Sirius get eaten by Remus?"  
  
It was a legitimate question, but James could hardly contain his laughter. "Don't worry, he wont eat us. But wow, I never thought I'd see the day where you, Lily Evans, would ever care about my health. Was it fourth year when you told me that you hoped I would get struck by lightning during our Quidditch match?"  
  
"That was last year, actually," she said as she chuckled. "But I was mad at you for charming legs onto all my ink bottles. They were running everywhere, remember?"  
  
"How could I forget?"  
  
"I was chasing them all over the Transfiguration room for the rest of class," said Lily, sighing. She had been very angry at the time, but, looking back, it seemed pretty funny.  
  
James checked the clock and exhaled slowly. "We should go, then."  
  
"Don't die," said Lily quickly.  
  
"I'll try my best," said James, a smirk playing across his face.  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"I promise."  
  
And with that, James left, pulling a groggy Sirius behind him, out the door. Lily had expected to stay up for possibly a few more hours, worrying about the boys, but as soon as her head hit her pillow, she was out like a light.  
  
It was only a couple hours later, when she woke up to go to the bathroom, to find a completely empty room. Her friends were gone.


	16. The Cabin

For a long minute, Lily could only sit on the floor, in shock. They were gone. She was alone.  
  
When she finally got her voice back, she screamed, "Cassie! Bess! Jill! Please, Merlin, where are you?"  
  
She jumped up and made her way around the rooms. No one was in the kitchen. Nobody in any of the bedrooms. Nobody in the bathrooms. Had they gone after James and Sirius once they had left? This was the only thing she could think of, but maybe they had just gone to the buffet for breakfast. Of course, that was it.  
  
Lily threw on some pants and a sweater, grabbed her coat, and ran downstairs. She couldn't be bothered to wait for the elevator. Waiting made her nervous, so instead, she took the stairs. Once she hit the bottom floor, she took off down the hallway and sprinted into the main dining hall. A few people stared at her when she came in, panting. She probably looked like a complete mess. Quickly, Lily looked around the giant room for some trace of her friends. They weren't there.  
  
 _Come on, Lily, pull yourself together,_ she thought to herself. _They're probably just at the pool. Or maybe the hot tub._  
  
A few minutes later, though, after she ran to the pool, she finally realized that her friends were gone. Brutal images of Cassie, Bess, and Jill, all torn apart by a savage wolf, flew across her mind. Lily's nightmares were coming true.  
  
She thought of what could have happened as she rushed back up the stairs. The girls probably saw that the guys were gone, or maybe they saw them leave. Whatever it was, they followed them. If they were stupid enough, they followed James and Sirius outside. But how could her friends follow James and Sirius without being noticed? Surly, one of the boys would have heard them sneaking up behind them. This was insane.  
  
Lily quickly unlocked the door and went straight to her room. She needed her wand.  
  
She had made up her mind that she would go after them, even if they were on top of the tallest mountain. She found the slender piece of wood in her suitcase and shoved it in her pocket. Lily took one last fleeting look around the rooms before she took the stairs down to the lobby.  
  
Now a nervous wreck, Lily made her way to the front door and was about to leave when the doorman stopped her.  
  
"Hello, miss, where are you going today?" he asked. Lily thought this was odd- where else could she be going, but out to the mountains? "You know the lifts still aren't working?"  
  
Lily moaned. Of course, the snowstorm from before. Why hadn't the resort fixed the lifts yet?  
  
"I'm not going to ski, I'm off to the supermarket," she lied. The man gave her a friendly smile, told her to button up for the chilly weather, and wished her good luck with the shopping. He was awfully nice.  
  
As soon as she walked through the doors, she knew that she had underdressed. The wind whipped around her face and danced briskly in her ears. She had forgotten to wear a hat. The violent cold was even rushing up her sleeves and through her loosely knitted scarf. She had completely forgotten gloves. When she sighed, she saw her own breath floating in front of her, along with the snow that had just started falling. It was brutal.  
  
Lily hurried off towards the mountains. Her friends must have climbed, but she couldn't think of how they had managed it in the dark. She was already having so much trouble in the clear daylight. She was hardly even on the mountain when she heard her name called from behind her.  
  
"Lily? Is zat you?"  
  
Poor, freezing, friendless Lily turned around to see Jim, standing a few meters from her, looking cocky. "What is it you are doing on ze hill?" he asked while she tried her hardest to ignore him. "Lily?"  
  
"It's none of your business," Lily told him sharply. She kept climbing, hoping that he would leave her alone.  
  
"But you know the runs are closed?" said Jim.  
  
"Thanks, but I'm perfectly aware." She really didn't have any patience for this boy. She needed to find her friend and she wanted to find them alive.  
  
"Where are ze others?"  
  
Filled with rage, Lily spun around to face Jim. "Look," she spat, "I don't have time for this. I'm not interested in you and I'm never going to be. Please leave me alone and go back to the other French... people." She instantly felt guilty for yelling at Jim, who was only trying to ask a question, but today just wasn't her day.  
  
Jim stood silently for a moment and then said, "All right, then." Lily watched as he took off his gloves and through them at her. "If you are hiking, you don't want the cold fingers."  
  
Why did he have to do this? She was mad at him, she yelled at him, and what does he do? He offers her his gloves. Lily tried to throw them back, she didn't want him to give her gifts of any sort, but he wouldn't accept them. Then he smugly walked away. Standing, now alone, on the side of the mountain, Lily decided to wear them. It _was_ getting cold.  
  
Now, with warm hands, Lily continued her trek up the hill. She didn't know how far the Marauders, sans Peter, would go. For all she knew, they could be anywhere. She needed a faster way to travel.  
  
Luckily, she found a low-level forrest run, which was pretty flat and easy to walk on. Well, it would have been easy for most people. It was quite difficult for Lily, seeing as she had just about as much coordination on ice as a troll doing ballet.  
  
The cold was really getting to her, even with Jim's gloves on. Her face felt numb, probably because she was walking straight into the frigid wind. She tugged her jacket up to her nose and hoped that she would find her friends soon.  
  
Or maybe she didn't want to find them. She had no idea what their conditions were. Was it possible that one of them died the night before? Anything could happen with a werewolf. She tried to push the negative thoughts from her mind, but with little else to distract her, she couldn't help but wonder if there had been any mishaps.  
  
She trudged on. It was really hard, hiking up the mountain. The ice caught her feet at unexpected times, sending her to the ground, but she knew that she had to keep going. She had already climbed through the forrest run and up about half the mountain when she tripped over a large branch. Lily thought this was very strange, because the forrest seemed pretty far away from where she was. How had the branch gotten there? When she went to examine it, she saw that it had been cracked and then stuck back together. She could see the line splitting down the middle. When she tried to pull it apart, she couldn't. It was solid.  
  
Something told Lily that this was unusual. That it was magic. She realized that she was probably jumping to conclusions, but there was something very off with the crack. She took one of her gloves off and touched the wood. Right where the sliver was, Lily could feel warmth. She was right. Someone had used a spell to mend the branch. That meant that she must be getting close.  
  
Lily didn't know what she expected to find, but she started to sift through the snow anyway. Maybe there would be another mended stick or some kind of form of magic. Anything.  
  
She tossed aside another stick before she gasped and quickly retrieved it. Upon further examination, she noticed the smoothness of the wood and the subtle design carved on the thicker of the two sides. Instantly, she knew exactly what this was. It was Sirius' wand.  
  
Quickly, Lily pulled out her own wand. Once she had it, though, she wasn't sure what to do. She could reveal the last spell that Sirius had cast, but what would that do? She did the spell anyway and saw that he had, in fact, done a sticking spell on the branch. But why? Was he fighting off Remus? Could he still do spells in his animagi form? Maybe this, at least, meant that they were close by. She pocketed Sirius' wand and continued up the mountain, more determined than ever.  
  
By the time Lily spotted the little warming hut, more than halfway up the mountain, her face was numb and she could no longer feel her toes. It was bitter cold so high up, so Lily hoped that the doors would be open.  
  
She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Her hopes fell, but she decided to knock in case someone else was there.  
  
"Hello?" Lily asked through the door. She was surprised at how small her own voice sounded.  
  
Suddenly, Lily froze when she heard movement from inside the hut. Hoping that she hadn't just imagined the sound, she knocked again, slowly. "Cassie? James? Sirius?" she asked through the door. She could hear more rustling from beyond the wall, but Lily started to wonder if maybe it wasn't her friends in the warming hut. It could easily be Death Eaters.  
  
With her wand held high, Lily finally decided to knock again. It seemed like this was the only shelter in a reasonable distance, so Lily's numb toes were begging her to take her chances. "Is anyone in there?" Lily said loudly as she pounded on the wood. She needed to make sure she was heard.  
  
"Wait," said a voice from the other side, "James, I think it's Lily!"  
  
"It is!" said Lily, more excited now than she could ever remember. "James? Sirius, Cassie, Bess, Jill it's me, Lily! Oh, Merlin are you all right?  
  
The door swung open and everything was not all right. The first thing Lily saw was blood. It seemed like it was stained everywhere. Lily rushed past Sirius, who had opened the door, and straight to the pile of blankets that Remus Lupin was buried under.  
  
"No," whispered Lily. Remus was beaten up. It seemed like the others had tried their best at patching up his open wounds, but Lily could tell it had been a rough night. Still holding her wand, she tried a few healing spells she had read from a charms textbook, but they didn't help much. One of the charms did seem to stop one particularly nasty cut from bleeding too horribly, though.  
  
Once she was sure that there was nothing else she could do for the boy in front of her, Lily turned to the others. To her instant relief, they were all there. They had looked better though. And not all of them were conscious. James was sitting up in a chair, his arm wrapped in a bandage, while Sirius was pacing by the door. Both of them still looked shocked from Lily's sudden arrival. Cassie was sitting at a table, looking worried, and Jill was sitting next to Bess. Bess wasn't awake.  
  
Lily rushed to Bess, who was on a bed. It wasn't until then that she realized that this wasn't a warming hut, but instead a one room cabin. That wasn't important, though. Lily held her wand up again, ready to preform any spell to wake Bess up, but became suddenly aware of what she was doing. Magic. In front of Muggles. They had seen her charm Remus. This was very bad.  
  
Everything was happening so fast that Lily crashed. She sat down, right on the floor, and stayed there until James came by her side and helped her up.  
  
"What happened?" she asked as James hugged her. "What happened last night?"  
  
James let her go and sat her down on the armchair that he had been in. "Things got... a little out of control," said James, nervously.  
  
"You think?" said Lily, her voice dripping with angry sarcasm, looking around at her injured friends. "Is Bess...."  
  
"Bess is going to be fine," said Sirius, walking over to the others. "She had a bit of a fall."  
  
So far, the girls had remained silent. They were probably shocked.  
  
"But she's okay?" asked Lily.  
  
"Yeah," said James.  
  
"But how do you know she will be okay? Give us some answers," begged Jill from the bed. She had bags under her eyes. It must have been an awful night.  
  
"Could someone just start from the top, please?" said Lily. She was dying to know why her friends felt compelled to follow James and Sirius up a mountain in the dead of night.  
  
"Well, we left," started James, "and everything was going as planned. We walked to a little hut to meet Remus and then we were going to transform there."  
  
"But _they_ ," said Sirius, pointing to the Muggles, "followed us."  
  
"We thought you were just going out to have some fun," said Cassie, trying to defending herself. "We had no idea that... _that_ thing was there." She nodded at Remus.  
  
"They saw him?" asked Lily. She had expected as much, but she had hoped more than anything that she was wrong.  
  
"They more than saw him," said Sirius darkly.  
  
"We were chased by it... well, by him," said Jill. She shuddered.  
  
Lily could only imagine how terrifying being chased by a werewolf would be. She was furious that it happened to her friends. This was exactly was she was afraid of. She should have known that something would have gone wrong.  
  
"James and I had to transform and carry them away," said Sirius. "Bess fell off my back and hit a rock. That's why she's unconscious."  
  
"Oh, Merlin," said Lily. She hoped, more than anything, that Bess would wake up soon.  
  
"We got them to this cabin, but we had to go and take care of Remus," continued James.  
  
"Then we came back once Remus was back to himself," finished Sirius.  
  
Lily took a deep breath, letting everything sink in. Then she remembered Sirius' wand in her pocket. "I found this," she said as she handed him the slim piece of wood.  
  
"You're a life saver, Evans," said Sirius, obviously relieved to have his wand back. "I could kiss you."  
  
Lily saw James shift uncomfortably, which, for some reason, amused her. He really was the jealous type.  
  
"Well, let's save the snogging for after we get these two sorted out," said Lily, motioning towards Remus and Bess. There was nothing left to do.


	17. The Truth About Magic

Sleeping arrangements were difficult due to the petit size of the cabin. Lily suspected that it was only meant for two people to stay in it. There was only one king sized bed, which was shared by Bess (who was still unconscious), Jill, and Cassie. The two girls were always watching over Bess, hoping for some sign that she might be waking.

It was the next morning already, but all Lily could think about was last night. Obviously, the three Muggle girls were shocked by what Lily, James, and Sirius had done with their wands. They had seen Lily trying to heal Remus and apparently, James and Sirius had done some protective spells before Lily had gotten there. Cassie and Jill had understandably wanted some answers.

"How did you do that with those sticks?" Cassie had asked, her eyes wide with fright.

The three Hogwarts students looked at each other, hoping that someone would either come up with a cleaver lie or just tell the truth. Lily desperately wanted to tell the girls about magic, but she knew that it was illegal to reveal her world to Muggles. Despite that, Lily believed that Cassie and Jill deserved to know. They had been chased by a bloody werewolf the night before, for Merlin's sake.

Lily and the boys talked it over in the kitchen of the cabin. After a while, they decided to tell them the truth.

"Look," said Lily once they were all seated around the bed that Bess was lying in, "you know how we did that... stuff... with the... sticks?" Cassie and Jill nodded slowly. "Well, those were wands and we were doing magic."

Blank expressions. Lily hadn't expected much else.

"And that art school we go to... is really a school for wizards and witches," said Lily, begging that her friends would react in some way. They didn't.

Well, Jill's jaw dropped open, but other than that, neither of the girls made a single noise.

"Sorry I never told you before," added Lily. She could hardly take the silence.

"You're joking, right?" asked Cassie.

"No jokes here," said Sirius.

"Those things are wands and you do magic and stuff?" said Cassie, her eyes as big as planets.

"Yeah, and stuff," said Lily.

"But-but-but that's impossible! Magic isn't real," stammered Jill. It seemed she had just gotten her voice back.

"Well, it is real. We're wizards, Lily's a witch, and Remus is a werewolf. That's why he's... like that," said James, summing things up nicely.

"But why didn't you tell us this?" asked Cassie.

Lily sighed. She always suspected that one of her old friends would find out about Hogwarts. They would see her owl or maybe catch a glimpse of one of the moving photographs. There was never an ideal time to tell your oldest friends that you've been lying to them since you were eleven years old, though. "I couldn't tell anyone," Lily said. "It's against our law to tell Muggles- non magical people- about our world. I'm so sorry."

Neither Cassie nor Jill responded. Lily knew that it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help but feel like she had betrayed them. Her heart broke as two of her oldest friends avoided Lily's gaze for the rest of the night.

  
After a restless, guilt-filled sleep, Lily sat at the little table in the kitchen, accompanied by James. She had slept on that very chair all night. the hard wood was very uncomfortable. It was the stiffness, and the fact that she was terrified that Bess would never wake up, that made sleeping the night before nearly impossible for Lily.

"Sirius is still asleep," said James as he ate some crackers. Whoever owned the cabin thankfully had a large supply of snacks.

"So are the others," said Lily. "How about Remus? How's he doing?"

"He's moving a bit more in his sleep, which is a good thing."

For a while, Lily didn't know what to say, so she just sat there. Somehow she was too exhausted to be angry. "How did this happen?" she asked, finally.

"It was my fault," said James, resting his head on his hand. "I shouldn't have let Remus come."

Seeing James stressed out made him look so much older. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was even messier than usual- it soon became clear that he ruffled his fringe every time he was nervous. Lily had thought, all these years, that he had purposely messed with his hair make himself look cool and aloof. She couldn't help but think back to every lesson she caught him looking at her, every ridiculous attempt at having a drink at The Three Broomsticks, every unexpected encounter in the halls or at the owlery, James was always ruffling his hair. Was she making him _nervous_ all these years? It seemed impossible to make the ever-confident James Potter anxious, but there was plenty that Lily was learning about James every day of this insane holiday.

For instance, she had never suspected James to talk in his sleep. He did. Last night, after the other girls refused to talk to Lily, James, and Sirius, Lily had gone to the kitchen, looking for somewhere to sit and think. Sirius had found a little chair in the foyer, so the only option was the small wooden table next to the oven. James had followed her and sat across from her on a chair that was particularly creaky. He had fallen asleep easily, unlike Lily, and almost instantly began muttering. It was a combination of the mumbles, the moaning of the chair, and the howling of the wind, that kept Lily awake and forced her to listen to James' nonsense. He mostly talked about Quidditch or dragons. A couple times, he mentioned his love for "baby cream puff fairies." A little later, though, he started saying things like, "Auntie, Henry is stealing my broomstick again." Lily wondered if the James inside of James' dream knew that his aunt, cousin, and uncle were now dead at the hands of Lord Voldemort.

Lily also learned that James was a sleep walker. She had just begun nodding off when she saw him stand up and head towards the door. She quickly woke herself up, her motherly instincts kicking in, and quickly lead him back to the table. Just a few minutes later, he opened his eyes and said, "How come I'm not in Hufflepuff?"

Lily pondered that for a while before telling James that, "You're not in Hufflepuff because you wouldn't look good in yellow."

He seemed to accept that answer and immediately fell back asleep. That was it for that night. The next time Lily had woken up, the sun was peaking through the curtains.

"Want a cracker?" asked James. He passed the box over to Lily, who accepted them. She could hardly believe that it had been a day since she woke up to find her friends missing. Lily could still remember the panic she felt when she was desperately searching for them yesterday. Now, she wished they could all go back to the Christophe Brazier, but it would probably be a bad idea to bring a beat up Remus and a worse-for-wear Bess back to the hotel.

"Do you think they'll ever forgive me?" Lily asked James.

"Who, your friends?" Lily nodded. "Of course. They have to understand that you couldn't tell them you're a witch. They can't be mad at you forever, you know. And the werewolf stuff wasn't your fault... I'm the one to blame." 

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Lily.

"I'm always right," pointed out James with a wink. Lily laughed, glad that he was trying to cheer her up. "But seriously Lily, I feel horrible about putting your friends through all of that. If it weren't for how horrible it is for Remus to transform alone... I had to try to make it work."

Lily nodded quietly, knowing deep down that she would have done the same if it had been her own friend in need.

"James," asked Lily, suddenly, "why do I hate you so much?"

He laughed at her, but Lily could tell that he was really thinking about his answer. "Well," he started, "I'm a bit of an arrogant toe-rag."

"Well, at least you realize that," said Lily, giggling.

"But seriously, do you still hate me as much as before? I mean, I'd like to think that I've matured a bit in the last couple of months alone," James said, looking Lily straight in the eye.

She quickly broke his gaze to examine her fingernails. "I don't hate you. It feels like you've changed, but- but you haven't _really_. You're still arrogant and immature, but for some reason it's different now." Lily wasn't even one hundred percent sure why she felt the need to share her feelings with James. They just seemed to be spilling out without a filter. She looked back up to see that James was still staring at her.

"Maybe I'm not as much of a jerk?" suggested James. It was clear that he wanted to get the the bottom of Lily's newly voiced concerns.

"Yeah, there aren't any first years here for you to bully," said Lily.

James looked hurt from that last remark. "Do you really think I pick on first years? Is that what _Severus_ has been telling you? Okay, we've pulled some pretty brutal pranks through the years and I'm got going to pretend that I haven't thrown my fair share of curses- but I'm never just hexing innocent kids. Look Lily, I really hate anyone who alines themself with dark magic and yeah, I think they deserve to get rattled around a little bit if they think blood status is important. But bullying first years?"

"No that wasn't what I-" started Lily, but James cut her off.

"Because I'm not- I'm not a bully. I'm this," he said, gesturing at himself.

"I know! I can see you now and I'm _so_ angry because I have to admit that for years I was looking at you through Sev's eyes. He was my best friend. He introduced me to everything I knew about magic and the wizarding world and I trusted him. It took me so long- _too long_ \- to see what he was becoming. But I'm not letting Snape cloud my own judgment anymore and, honestly, I- I like you so much it makes my head spin," Lily blurted out.

She could feel the heat on her cheeks as James' hazel eyes bore into hers. Lily gulped, unsure at what point she had stood up during her speech. Her heart was beating so rapidly that she was worried it would beat out of her throat. 

"You do?" he asked, unable to control the smile growing on his face.

Before she could think, Lily felt herself being pulled towards James by what could only be described as a magnetic force. And when she kissed him, everything around them melted away. James wrapped his arms around her, his excitement overflowing as he pulled her closer. This wasn't like the quick kiss at the Hot Chocolate Social. There was no confusion or nerves, just pure happiness and warmth. A moment of unexpected simplicity.

But it was really just a moment. One brief moment before she heard Sirius shouting, "Oh, Merlin, what is going on here?!"

Lily and James tore apart as quickly as possible, but Sirius had already seen everything he needed to see.

"You... and you? _Now?!_ " shouted the baffled Sirius. "How? Explain."

Lily was breathless, simply unable find her voice. James didn't look like he could do much talking either. He just stood across from Lily, completely stunned, with a stupid grin on his face. And boy, was his hair ruffled.


	18. The Woods

"What are you two doing snogging each other?" asked Sirius, his eyes wide.  
  
Lily was at a loss for what to say. She was a bit breathless and her head was spinning. She had just kissed James Potter. That had really happened.  
  
She looked across the room at James, who was smiling from ear to ear. He kept looking from Lily to Sirius, opening his mouth to respond, but not finding the words and just laughing to himself instead, almost in disbelief.

"What did you do, Prongs?" Sirius said.  
  
"What?" said James, finding his voice. "She was the one to kiss me!"  
  
Sirius' jaw dropped to the floor. Lily turned an even darker shade of red and tired to avoid looking Sirius in the eye. Instead, she focused on her feet. She could tell that James was looking at her, probably expecting her to say something, but her mind was blank. Was Lily happy that she kissed James? Yes. In fact, she very much wanted to do it again. But was it a good idea? She wasn't quite so sure... 

When she finally worked up the courage to meet James' gaze, Lily could see he was bouncing with excitement. His surprised grin was slowing morphing into a proud smirk, like he'd just won a Quidditch match.  
  
"I told you," he said to Lily, a new cocky air about his voice, "after that Hot Chocolate Social."  
  
"You told me what?" asked Lily, not sure what he was talking about.  
  
"Remember? I told you that you were in love with me and and you denied it. But I was right all along!" said James, a bit too arrogantly for Lily's liking.  
  
"I'm _not_ in love with you," said Lily, crossing her arms across her chest.   
  
"But I think you are," said James, not breaking eye contact.  
  
"You're insane! We kissed one time, that doesn't mean I'm in _love_ with you," Lily said. What was going on? Before they kissed, when they were alone at the kitchen table, James had been so sincere, so mature. That was the James Potter that Lily wanted to kiss again. She glanced at this current James, who was looking at Sirius now. _Sirius_. Lily's eyes narrowed at the other Marauder who had barged in on them.   
  
"Fine," said James, "but you did just admit that you liked me. Then, we snogged. In my opinion, that sounds like you're warming up to me," he said with a wink. It took everything in Lily's power not to roll her eyes at him.  
  
"Lily Maryanne Evans," said Sirius, "I never thought I'd see the day."  
  
"My middle name is not Maryanne."  
  
"None the less, I think this is wonderful," said Sirius, smiling.  
  
"What's wonderful?" asked a dazed and sleepy looking Cassie.  
  
"Nothing," said Lily quickly. Cassie was talking to her again and she didn't want to stop to discuss whatever it was that had just happened with James. "How are you?"  
  
"Tired," said Cassie. "But I wanted to tell you that Bess is starting to wake up."  
  
Lily jumped up from her seat, leaving the boys in the kitchen, and followed Cassie back to where Bess was slowly sitting up in bed.  
  
"Bess," exclaimed Lily. She was so relieved that Bess was awake.  
  
"My head kills," grumbled Bess. Lily hugged her and so did Cassie and Jill. When the girls finally let her go, Bess smiled, but then caught sight of Remus, lying across the room. "What's happened to him?"  
  
"You don't remember anything?" asked Sirius who had come to join the girls. Bess shook her head.  
  
"Well, then," said Lily, taking a deep breath, "we've got some explaining to do."  
  
The next thirty minutes were spent telling Bess exactly what had happened the night before and all about magic. Lily, James, and Sirius told her about Hogwarts and the Ministry and, most importantly, about how they weren't allowed to tell Muggles about the magical world.  
  
"But you're telling us now," pointed out Bess.  
  
"That's because we really don't have a choice," said Lily. "You've already seen magic and you know that Remus is a werewolf...."  
  
"So you can just wave around a wand and solve all your problems?" Bess asked. She was taking this much better than Cassie and Jill had the night before.  
  
"Not exactly," said James.  
  
"We technically aren't allowed to do magic outside of school," said Lily.  
  
"But you have been," said Cassie, looking confused.  
  
"Yeah, why is that?" asked Sirius as though he expected Lily to have the answer.  
  
"I don't know any better than you do. Maybe it's because of all the other Muggles around?" suggested Lily.  
  
"No, the Trace reports you to the Ministry, despite how many Muggles there are," James said.  
  
"Wait. Hold on. What are Muggles?" asked Bess. She rubbed her head as if she had a massive headache. Lily suspected that she must after all the information she was suddenly getting.  
  
"Non magic people," Lily told her.  
  
"Like us?" she asked, gesturing to herself and the other girls.  
  
"Yeah," Lily responded, dropping her gaze.  
  
Lily really didn't like how differently her friends were looking at her now. She realized that nothing would be the same between them again. Lily would always be an outsider. The one who was different. She sighed, wishing there was an easier way to explain things. More than anything, Lily wanted to stress that she was the same person. Being magical didn't make her a complete stranger.  
  
"This is just too weird," said Bess.  
  
"I'm sorry," said Lily, but no one responded.  
  
"When can we leave this place?" asked Cassie, finally.  
  
"It's freezing outside," said Lily, "do you guys have enough layers to keep warm if we were to walk back?"  
  
The girls shook their heads.  
  
"Well, I'm not leaving until Remus wakes up. He usually needs a little while to recover," said Sirius.  
  
"All right, I'm going to go back to the hotel to get clothes for Cassie, Bess, and Jill," Lily said. "They need to keep warm up here and I'm the only one with a proper winter coat."  
  
"You shouldn't go alone," started James.  
  
"And why not?"  
  
"Because...."  
  
"Look, James, I can take care of myself," said Lily.  
  
"I know that," James said, "but what if you get lost? Plus, you can't carry all their jackets by yourself."  
  
Lily thought about letting James come. It would be nice to have some company on the way down. But then again, James would be better off in the cabin.  
  
"It's your decision," said Lily after a while. "I'm going to leave now so I get back by the afternoon."  
  
Lily put her coat on, took one last look at her friends, and walked out the door.  
  
"Hold up!" shouted James from behind her. She wasn't even remotely surprised that he had followed her. "Lily, slow down!"  
  
In a moment, he had caught up to her. "It's cold out," he said.  
  
"That's exactly why I'm getting coats for the others," said Lily, her voice dripping with sarcasm.   
  
"Right, said James as he ruffled his hair.  
  
They kept walking, Lily a little faster than James. She hoped that maybe if he was out of breath, he couldn't start talking about what happened that morning.

"Come on, Evans, slow down a bit."  
  
"James, we don't want to still be walking once the sun's gone down," pointed out Lily.  
  
"But can't we just pause a moment to enjoy the scenery? I mean, just look at this place!" said James. He wildly gestured at the mountains and forests around them.  
  
"Yes, it's lovely out here, but we don't really have the time to stop and smell the roses," said Lily. She kept walking, ignoring James' look of disappointment.  
  
"Look, Lily," said James as he grabbed her arm, "you seem upset, which I don't understand because I, for one, thought that kiss was incredible."

The arrogant smirk James was wearing in the cabin had melted back into a shy smile. Like a switch, Lily's annoyance towards James fell away as he moved to hold her hand.   
  
"It is beautiful up here," Lily admitted. I guess it can't hurt to enjoy the views for a minute."  
  
"Really?" asked James. He looked pleasantly surprised. "Okay... let's really appreciate the wilderness, then!"  
  
"Appreciate the wilderness?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Follow me," said James with a wink. He squeezed Lily's hand and pulled her into the forrest they were walking beside.  
  
"Is this a good idea," said Lily nervously. Even in the daytime, the woods were covered by shadows.  
  
"It's an excellent idea," said James as he led her deeper and deeper into the woods.  
  
They didn't stop until they came across a clearing where the sunlight found its way through the branches. The powdery snow reflected the sun brilliantly, glimmers dancing around all up the surrounding trees.  
  
"Isn't it wonderful in here?" asked James. "We passed through here the other day when we were scouting for the full moon..."  
  
Lily couldn't help but smile at how peaceful it was in this little winter oasis. The trees were hardly rustling and they were stepping through untouched snow. For a moment, it felt like she and James were the only people in the world. "It's nice to be separate from all the chaos right now."  
  
James nodded his head in agreement and sat down on a fallen tree. He motioned for Lily to join him, so she did.  
  
"I don't know about you, but this would have to be my favorite holiday of all time," said James, a smile on his face.  
  
"It's definitely up there for me," Lily admitted. She couldn't help but laugh that just a couple weeks ago, Lily was fuming about James and Sirius ending up at the same ski resort as her and her friends. Oh how things had changed in such a short amount of time.

"Well, it's been perfect minus these last couple of days," said James.  
  
"Well, yeah. Take away the werewolf problem...."  
  
"And don't forget the Death Eaters," James pointed out.  
  
"Right," remembered Lily, "how could I forget the Death Eaters. And I would definitely take away Jim snogging me."  
  
"And it totally sucked when- wait. What?" said James, looking a bit taken aback.  
  
"You know, when Jim cornered me in the hallway and forced himself on me? I could've sworn I told you!" said Lily. She had told James... hadn't she?  
  
"What? You... kissed him? Why? I didn't hear anything about this." James' hand flew to his hair to mess it up again.  
  
"Oh," said Lily, feeling extremely embarrassed, "that wasn't you. That was Sirius, who I told."  
  
The expression on James' face told her that she was digging herself into a hole.  
  
"You told Sirius? And not me?" he asked. He looked insulted.  
  
"Well, he saw it happen," Lily said, trying to find a way to calm James down. He would have to realize this was mostly a big misunderstanding.  
  
"He watched you snog Jim?"  
  
"I didn't kiss him! Jim kissed me," said Lily, trying to defend herself.  
  
"Did you kiss him back?"  
  
"Of course not! I hated every second of it," said Lily, honestly.  
  
"Why didn't Sirius tell me?" said James, more to himself than to Lily.  
  
"Probably because it wasn't important."  
  
"Well...." It seemed like James wanted to argue, but he stopped himself.  
  
Lily had to admit that she didn't mind seeing James this jealous.

"Come on, James, why are you so bothered?" she asked him, only slightly egging him on.  
  
"Why do you think?" he asked. Lily didn't answer and let him continue. "If you haven't noticed, I like you a lot, Evans. And, yes, I'll admit it, I'm jealous. Happy? I've said it." He sort of laughed and smiled at her, hiding the fact that he was blushing. Lily was fluttering, that happiness rushing over her again, so much so that she almost leaned in to kiss him again, but she held back at the last moment.  
  
 _What would everyone at school think if they found out I snogged Potter?_ she thought. She knew it was shallow, but she was honestly worried how her friends would react if she started dating the boy who caused her nothing but headaches back at school. Deep down, she knew that it shouldn't matter who she dated, as long as she liked them, but this was different. Everyone knew her as Lily Evans, the smart, stubborn Gryffindor who James Potter always chased after, but never could get. Who would she be if she finally gave in? Her mind drifted to Sev. What would he think of her? She quickly shook Snape from her mind, though. She definitely didn't care what he thought of her anymore. The only thing that mattered were her feelings and right now her heart was basically begging her to reach out at grab James again.  
  
"James," Lily said after a moment, "I do want you to know-"  
  
But James wasn't listening to her or even paying attention to what she was saying. His gaze was fixed just above her shoulder. He put his finger to her lips and whispered, "Don't make any sudden moves. There's a man in a mask behind those trees."  
  
Both Lily and James reached into their pockets and grasped their wands.  
  
"We run on the count of three," said James. "One... two... three."


	19. The Attempt

Lily and James took off sprinting through the forest.  
  
She didn't dare look, but Lily was fairly certain that the man in the mask had seen them. Her heart pounded in her chest, louder and louder with each step she took. James, who was just a stride or two ahead of her, whipped around to cast a spell over his shoulder. Lily heard a shout. James must have hit their chaser.  
  
Still, Lily didn't look around. She kept running, as fast as she could, until she and James broke free from the forrest and were back on the side of the mountain. Lily collapsed on the ground and laid there, panting, for a moment. James had his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.  
  
"You okay?" he asked Lily. She nodded.  
  
"They're still here," said Lily in between breaths. "What do we do?"  
  
"We shouldn't stay out in the open for very long. Damn, I hoped they had left," cursed James. He reached out and helped Lily up. "We've got to get back to the cabin. That Death Eater should be waking up soon."  
  
"What did you hit him with?" Lily asked as they started climbing back up the mountain.  
  
"I just got him with a stunning spell."  
  
Lily tried to concentrate on getting back to the cabin, but her mind kept wandering. She couldn't see a way out of this. Here they were, in a Muggle Ski resort, trapped on a mountain, with a load of Voldemort supporters on their trail. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but Lily was terrified.  
  
When they finally reached the cabin, they were greeted with good news.  
  
"Prongs! Remus is waking up," said Sirius. James managed to smile at Sirius, but Lily could tell that she was just as nervous as she was. As she watched the two boys go over to greet Remus, Lily saw James quietly tell something to Sirius. Sirius looked back to her with wide eyes.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me," said Sirius. Lily wished that was the case. She walked across the cabin to join them and saw that Remus was just opening his eyes.  
  
Remus groaned and coughed. "What's happened?" he mumbled, barely audible.  
  
"Don't worry," said James, "there were just some... problems at full moon."  
  
Remus' eyes shot open at that. "Who did I hurt?" he asked.  
  
"Everyone's okay," reassured Sirius and Remus calmed a bit.  
  
"Wait, where are we?" he asked.  
  
"I'll let James explain," said Sirius and then he pulled Lily aside. "What happened?"  
  
Lily didn't know where to start. She especially didn't want to tell Sirius that she and James were just taking a break in the woods when they were supposed to be getting supplies for the others. "We were taking a shortcut through the forrest," she started.  
  
"A shortcut?" asked Sirius with raised eyebrows.  
  
"Yes, Black, a shortcut. It's like a faster way. But anyway, we were going through the forest when we saw a man in a mask. He must have seen us too, so we ran for it. James got him with a stunning spell and then we came straight back here."  
  
"Merlin, what do we do?"  
  
"I don't know. Remus is still in no condition to hike back to the hotel and, as far as we know, that Death Eater could be right outside our door," said Lily. She was more nervous now than she had ever been before. She never had to deal with magic, much less Death Eaters, in the Muggle world before. Here, at the Christophe Brazier, there weren't any professors that could come to their rescue. They would have to fight alone.  
  
"Maybe we could send an owl to the Ministry," suggested Lily.  
  
"Do you see any owls here?" asked Sirius, shutting down her idea.  
  
"What about a Patronus?" said James from across the room.  
  
"James," said Lily, "it's Death Eaters we're facing, not Dementors."  
  
"Listen, my mum and dad have been talking to Dumbledore and he's told them that he's finding new ways to communicate. He's figured out this way to make Patronuses talk, so that you can send people messages."  
  
"Do you know how to do it?" asked Lily. This was the first sign of hope that they had.  
  
"Kind of. It's like sending an owl. You cast the Patronus, you say the message you want to send, and then you tell the animal form where to send it," explained James.  
  
"What are you guys talking about over there? And, Lily, where are the coats?" asked Cassie. She had come into the main room from the kitchen.  
  
"Cassie, there's a problem," said Lily. "So, in the magical world there's this really bad guy named Lord Voldemort and he has these followers called Death Eaters."  
  
"What's that got to do with us," asked Cassie, but Lily suspected that she already had an idea.  
  
"They're trying to recruit me," said James. "They came here looking for me a week or so ago and now they're back. Lily and I saw one of them while we were going back to the hotel."  
  
"Are they dangerous?" asked Bess, who had followed Cassie out of the kitchen.  
  
"Yeah, I'd say they're dangerous," said Sirius. He went over to the window and quickly ducked down. "And they're outside right now."  
  
Lily's heart beat faster and she clung to James, who she was closest to. No one dared to move. None of them knew what to do.  
  
James held on to Lily and reached into his pocket to pull out his wand. He took a breath to say a spell, but Lily stopped him.  
  
"James, what are you doing?" Lily whispered.  
  
"I'm going to try to send the Patronus. It's the only way we're going to get out of this," he said, his voice quivering slightly. "Everyone, move to the kitchen, there aren't any windows back there."  
  
Even though it felt like her feet were stuck to the ground, James managed to drag Lily back to the kitchen. Cassie, Bess, and Jill were back by the fridge in a heartbeat. The only problem was Remus.  
  
"All right, Moony," said Sirius, "can you get up?"  
  
Remus tried to sit upright. It took a little while, but he managed.  
  
"I'm going to help you up now," Sirius told him as he hoisted his friend from his bed. Remus let out some grunts of pain, but Sirius put his hand over his mouth and muffled some of Remus' groans. The two finally made it to the back.  
  
"I'm going to go to the pantry to cast the spell," said James. Lily nodded, but didn't want to let go. He was her life vest now, and she wasn't going to be separated from him.  
  
They went to the little room, which was supposed to hold all the food. Now, it seemed deserted and dusty with only a few soup cans laying about. Lily reckoned there were tons of spiders crawling on the counters, but still, this place seemed safer than the other rooms. She quickly pulled out her own wand and said, " _Lumos_." The pantry was automatically lit by Lily's spell and now she could see James clearly. He looked tired from the full moon, weary from the Death Eaters appearing, and nervous. Nervous about everything in general.  
  
James took a deep breath and spoke, " _Expecto Patronum._ " A silvery mist flowed out of his wand and smoothly took the form of a stag. "Mum and Dad, we're trapped on the side of a mountain at the resort. There are Death Eaters. Please send help." Then James addressed the stag, itself. "Send this to Mr and Mrs Potter at Potter Mansion."  
  
Lily almost commented on how posh "Potter Mansion" sounded, but restrained herself.  
  
The stag started trotting around Lily and James and went through one of the walls. There was silence for a moment while the two begged that the spell had worked, but they were crushed when the stag reentered the room. It shook its glowing head and slowly melted away.  
  
"What did I do wrong?" said James, frustrated.  
  
"I don't know, maybe there's a different spell you have to use," said Lily. Things weren't looking good, though. It was only a matter of time until the Death Eaters came into the cabin. Every second waiting for the attack felt like an hour, dragging painfully.  
  
"Oh Merlin," James muttered under his breath. He violently ruffled his hair and sat down on the floor of the pantry.  
  
Lily slowly walked beside him and sat down. "Are we going to die here?" she asked in a whisper.  
  
"Not if I can help it," he said.  
  
James?" said Lily after a moment.  
  
He turned his head to meet her gaze and she could see that he was distressed.  
  
"I just wanted to say that, these past few weeks...," she paused to think about what she was going to say. "Well, you've been a really good friend."  
  
James chuckled. "I think we both know that I've been more than just a friend to you, Evans."  
  
"I mean-" Lily stuttered, her cheeks turning a nice shade of pink.  
  
"Face it, Lily, during this trip we've snogged, count them, two times," James laughed. He looked rather smug at the moment.  
  
Lily wanted to chastise him for not being serious, but decided against it. This was how James coped with reality. He was cheerful the day after his aunt and uncle died, and he was cheerful now. She wasn't going to strip that from him and she had to admit, it was comforting her, too.  
  
"Fine," she admitted, "we might have kissed, but that doesn't mean we're getting married or anything."  
  
"Well, seeing as you couldn't even stand being within a five mile radius of me last year, I'd say we've made some progress."  
  
Lily actually laughed and she had to admit that they, indeed, had made quite a lot of progress. She had really meant it when she said he was her friend.   
  
James started talking and Lily quickly understood that he was just trying to distract them both from the Death Eaters that were currently roaming the mountains outside their safe house. He told her about how much nicer the school grounds were at night, when everything was silent and at rest. Slowly, Lily forgot about the outside world completely. There wasn't a Sirius or Cassie or Bess or even Jill. The only people in the world were herself and James. It was only them and their pantry.  
  
"And you wanna know the most brilliant location in all of Hogwarts? The Astronomy Tower. Climbing up all those stairs can be brutal, but man, the view is worth it. I swear, you can see every star from up there," said James. His eyes were glossed over, as though he was lost in a distant memory that he just couldn't reach, no matter how far he stretched.  
  
"You're being awfully mature, you know that, Mr Potter?" said Lily with a smile.  
  
"Please," said James, "Mr Potter is my father. Call me James."  
  
Lily laughed at him and James laughed with her. They tried to laugh away their fears and worries, but they were just two scared kids after all. And if Lily wasn't so scared, she would have leaned over to James and told him how much she cared about him. Told him that she was so glad that he and Sirius had shown up at the resort. She would have leaned over and kissed him. But at that moment, the ground beneath them began to shake violently. The entire house seemed to roar. The shelves crashed to the floor and a lightbulb fell from the ceiling, shattering into a million pieces.  
  
James grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her out of the collapsing room. He pulled her from their sanctuary and back into the real world where they were being attacked.  
  
Jill shrieked and everyone dropped to the ground with their hands over their heads. It felt like they were being hit with an earthquake and Lily wondered what crazy kind of Dark Magic this could possibly be. Curiosity got to her in the end and she slowly peaked her head up to get a glance out the kitchen's window.  
  
Her eyes widened as she saw, not Death Eaters, but a wave of snow cascading down the mountainside.


	20. The Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mild violence / non-lethal cut throat

Their little cabin was in the heart of an avalanche.  
  
It was an odd thing to do, but Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She would take an avalanche over Death Eaters any day. However, there was still the problem of the house shaking. Glass plates were sliding off the tables and shattering on the kitchen floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw James' wand rolling across the room and under the sofa that had been occupied by Remus.  
  
James dove for his wand, but it seemed like he couldn't reach it.  
  
" _Accio wand_!" shouted Lily and James' wand came flying into her outstretched hand.  
  
"Lily, get down!" yelled James, but Lily ignored him and pointed out the window.  
  
"It's not Death Eaters, it's an avalanche!"  
  
"A what?!" screamed Jill, panicked.  
  
"She said there was an avalanche," Sirius told her. "Stay calm. This house should be strong enough. We just need to wait it out."  
  
Lily's friends showed different levels of horror, but didn't say another word.  
  
James made his way back over to Lily and retrieved his wand from her. "Something tells me this wasn't a coincidence," he said to her.  
  
"The Death Eaters probably did it," she agreed. She jumped as a flower vase fell to the ground next to her. She winced with pain, several shards of glass had cut her hand and arm and she had begun to bleed.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked James while he tried to dab at the cut with his sleeve.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lily said. She cringed as she watched the blood dripping down her arm and stain her shirt.  
  
"I don't know any healing charms," said James.  
  
"James," said Lily firmly, "don't worry. I'm going to be fine."  
  
It looked like he didn't believe her. He stared at her, intensely, for a minute before reaching for a kitchen towel to cover Lily's wound. She cringed, and tried to push him away. "Really," she said, "I'm okay. Just let me handle this." Lily grabbed the cloth from James and applied pressure to her cut. It stung, but in a minute she could perform a scabbing charm to heal herself. "See, James, I'm perfectly fine."  
  
"Not for long," said James, pointing out the window behind Lily. She spun around to see a dark figure looking in on the cabin.  
  
"Oh, Merlin. What do we do?" said Lily. She was finding it difficult to breath and she wondered if she would even be able to pronounce a spell if she had to. But she couldn't worry about herself right now. She had three Muggle friends in the next room over who were completely defenseless.  
  
"Sirius, Remus, the Death Eaters are here," said James as he grasped his wand, ready to fight. Sirius sprung to his feet, but Remus was not so quick.  
  
"Remus," said Lily, rushing to his side, "you're still too weak. We're going to have to hide you with Cassie, Bess, and Jill."  
  
"No, Lily, I'm not leaving you guys to fight however many Death Eaters may be out there," said Remus. He tried to stand up a little straighter, but it only made him buckle from pain.  
  
"We can handle it," said Lily. "You need to protect them." She pointed at her friends who were frantically looking for a place to take cover.  
  
"Fine," said Remus, "but you have to promise me you guys aren't going to get yourselves killed."  
  
Lily was frozen for a moment, shocked by Remus' words. She honestly hadn't even thought that there was a possibility of death. She knew they might get hurt or stunned, but she hadn't even realized that Death Eaters weren't afraid to throw around the Unforgivable Curses. A new wave of fear gulped over her, but she quickly pushed it away. "Don't worry, we'll make it out. I'm sure of it," she told him, even though she hardly believed it herself.  
  
She quickly hugged Remus, wished him luck, and went to join James and Sirius. She barely had time to pull her wand out when they heard a crash on the door. Everyone held their breath as a man's voice yelled from outside.  
  
" _Alohamora_!" shouted the man and the wooden door burst open.  
  
He was very large, with billowing robes and a silver mask covering his face. It was unclear how he had managed to even get to the door, due to the raging avalanche that was still rushing past the little cabin. The wand that he held was long and sharp, almost knife-like in shape, and he held it as if it were a dagger. When he shouted a spell, his voice was deep and raspy.  
  
Lily hardly had time to react to the curse that the Death Eater had shot at her. It missed her, only by a hair, because she had quickly jumped out of its way. The spell hit the wall behind them and Lily heard a crash as a portrait fell from the walls.  
  
The Death Eater shouted out again, but nothing came from his wand. Instead, three more Death Eaters appeared all around the front room. Lily didn't know which way to look. At once, all the masked men raised their wands and the only spell that came to mind was the Patronus charm. That wasn't going to do any good. Luckily, years of dueling in the Hogwarts hallways paid off for James. He had already cast a spell at one of the men near the door, sending him flying into the wall. Sirius started shooting flames at the man by the window and Lily heard a yell as one of the fireballs scorched his arm.  
  
"Gotcha!" laughed Sirius as he continued to whip his wand around.  
  
Lily was so caught up in the battles around her that she hadn't noticed the other two Death Eaters advancing on her.  
  
"Come on pretty," sneered one of them, the shorter of the two, "you're the Mudblood, ain't you?"  
  
Lily grasped her wand in her sweaty palm and yelled, " _Locomotor Mortis!_  
  
It was such a juvenile spell, but still extremely effective. The Death Eater's legs were quickly locked together and he fell flat on his face. Lily took a shaky breath and composed herself now that she had some time. While the other Death Eater was checking his friend, Lily shot another spell at him, putting him in the same leg-lock. The only problem was that they still had their wands at the ready.  
  
" _Expelliarmus!_ Lily shouted twice and both of the men's wands came flying towards her. She smiled at herself, glad that her defenses worked.  
  
She didn't have too much time to enjoy her victory, though. There was a bang and Lily was quickly brought back into the battle to help James. He was taking on a huge wizard, with broad shoulders and giant arms. Lily shot a few spells in his direction and distracted him enough for James to knock him out. So far, this battle wasn't going that badly.  
  
Unfortunately, she had thought too soon.  
  
In a rush that seemed as great as the avalanche, a swarm of masked men and women came flooding through the front door.  
  
"What do we do?" yelled Lily at James and Sirius. Even more panic was welling up in her stomach, ready to burst at any second. She tried, desperately, to convince herself that she was a Gryffindor and that they would fight their way out. This couldn't be the end, could it?  
  
Realizing that they couldn't possibly take on all the Death Eaters at once, James, Lily, and Sirius ran to the kitchen.  
  
"What... the hell... are we going to do?" asked Sirius, between breaths.  
  
"We're going to fight," said James as he locked the kitchen door.  
  
"Yeah," said Lily, "but if we fight, we die." The boys stared at her with hopeless expressions on their faces.  
  
"What other choice do we have?" said James, already looking defeated. He quickly started blockading the door with chairs and the table. They could hear the Death Eaters on the other side trying to force it open.  
  
"Just blast it open," said a muffled voice.  
  
"Yeah, fine, I'll blast it," said another.  
  
The three quickly backed away from the door when they heard a man yelling a spell from the other side. There was silence for just a moment as they waited for the explosion. A loud crack and a flaming burst of light signified the destruction of the kid's last defense. Sirius and James started shouting spells and curses at the oncoming crowd, but Lily knew that this wasn't going to be a fair fight. There was really only one option.  
  
" _Protego!_ " screamed Lily and a magical barrier sprouted from her wand, surrounding herself and the boys. Some of the curses rebounded and wounded a few of the Death Eaters in the front of the group. "James," she said with a quivering, but stern voice, "try the Patronus message again. It's our only hope of getting out of this mess."  
  
He looked terrified, but he nodded and raised his wand.  
  
James preformed the same spell that he did in the pantry and the same silvery stag soared out from the tip of his wand. He spoke to it, gave it directions, but Lily could hardly even hear over the shouts from the Death Eaters..  
  
"What's that the Potter boy's doin'?"  
  
"Come out and fight us like adults!"  
  
"Don't be babies! You can't hide behind there forever, you know!"  
  
Lily ignored their taunts and watched as James' stag pranced away and through the cabin wall. She hoped, more than anything that the Patronus would make it to the Ministry.  
  
"You know," said a large man as he stepped through the parting crowd, "he could put an end to this." The man pointed his plump finger straight at James.  
  
"What are you saying?" James said, his voice quivering slightly.  
  
"All we want is for you to join us," the man continued in a raspy voice. "The Dark Lord is giving you a chance to redeem your bloodtraiter name, Potter. The Dark Lord wants you to join him, Potter. "  
  
"So?" responded James with more confidence. "I couldn't care less about what your dearest _Voldemort_ wants."  
  
There was a collective gasp from the crowd of Death Eaters and a single, high-pitched shout.  
  
"How dare you speak his name?!" screamed a girl from the back. She pushed and shoved her way to the front of the crowd as she shouted obscenities. Her dark, wild hair was the first they saw of her before she squeezed herself up to the front. "You should fear his title!"  
  
"Bellatrix?" asked Sirius, taken aback.  
  
"Oh my, little cousin," said Bellatrix with a sneer on her pale face. "But Auntie Walburga and Uncle Orion said you were off in Egypt! Won’t they be surprised to hear that you're running around with the Potter boy and engaging with filthy Muggles."  
  
Sirius glared at her. "And just when I thought you couldn't get more rotten, you join up with this lot," he scoffed.  
  
"Maybe we'll snag you for the Dark Lord, too," Bellatrix threatened.  
  
"You won’t be taking anyone," Lily finally worked up the courage to say.  
  
"Oh, it speaks!" cried Bellatrix in a maniacal fashion, throwing her hands into the air. She stepped up to the magical barrier, as close as she could get, and whispered, "Maybe the Dark Lord would fancy you as a play thing. Oh yes, we'll bring you along, too. Look at us! Killing three owls with one curse!"  
  
"That's enough, Bellatrix," said the large Death Eater who seemed to be growing impatient with the girl. "Someone just break this bloody barrier."  
  
A few masked wizards stepped up and tried breaking Lily's charm, but it managed to hold. However, all three of the kids knew that it wouldn't protect them forever and it was just a matter of time before one of the Death Eaters broke through. That time seemed to come when a cunning looking man came up to the protection spell and spoke in German to cast a curse. With terror, Lily watched the barrier melt before her eyes. The fighting was on again.  
  
Spells shot wildly around the room, bouncing off walls and people alike. There were so many wizards and witches that it made Lily dizzy, but she couldn't drop her guard for a minute or she could easily be killed. As she cast off every spell and hex she could think of, Lily legitimately wondered again if this was going to be the end. With a killing curse flashing right in front of her nose, it wouldn't be unlikely that one might hit her or her friends. There was simply no time to worry, though, not when Lily had to concentrate on the hunchbacked Death Eater approaching her.  
  
"I've got the Mudblood!" he snarled, baring the few rotten teeth that were left dangling from his gums.  
  
"Stupefy!" Lily started to shout, but she was grabbed from behind before she could finish the spell. Bellatrix Lestrange had Lily's arms twisted behind her back.  
  
Bellatrix held her wand to her own throat and cast a charm to increase the volume of her voice. "OI! YOU MEATHEADS, LISTEN UP!" she screeched. Her shouts were so loud that Lily could feel the floor vibrating beneath her feet. Everyone stopped fighting to locate the speaker. "ESPECIALLY YOU, POTTER. LOOK WHO I'VE GOT!"  
  
Lily immediately found James in the crowd. He had a large gash running down his cheek and the Death Eater who he had been fighting still had the wand pointed right at James' chest. He was breathing heavily and had a panicked expression on his pale face. He mouthed the word, "No."  
  
With a swishing sound, Bellatrix took out a switchblade and held it to Lily's neck. "YOU'RE GOING TO COME WITH ME, POTTER, OR ELSE THE RED HEAD GETS IT!" yelled Bellatrix.  
  
This couldn't be happening. Bellatrix couldn't be using Lily as bait. There was no way in hell that Lily was going to let James give himself over to Voldemort for her sake.  
  
"I'll go with you, take me instead, please!" begged James, throwing his hands in the air as a surrender. Lily shook her head and tried to speak, but the blade was right against her skin and the words just wouldn't come out.  
  
"Let her go, Bellatrix," said Sirius from the other side of the room. He seemed better off than James, with no visible wounds. Although there were a good number of hooded wizards surrounding him, so maybe his luck wasn't so great.  
  
"Itty bitty Sirius wants me to stop hurting his wittle fwiend!" laughed Bellatrix, an air of insanity surrounding her. "Take him, too, boys." At her word, the hooded Death Eaters closed their circle and grabbed Sirius.  
  
Lily's mind was racing. She had to do something and she had to do it quickly. But the knife against her throat limited her range of motion and her wand was stuck behind her back where Bellatrix had tied up her hands. That was it. Lily still had her wand in her hand, pointed at Bellatrix. But what spell could she cast that wouldn't send all of the Death Eaters into a frenzy?  
  
James was already making his way up to Bellatrix to surrender. He wouldn't break eye contact with Lily as he walked, as though he was worried that she was going to do something stupid... which she was about to do. There was no time to think, so Lily cast the first spell that came to mind.  
  
" _Wingardium Leviosa_ whispered Lily. She quickly ducked down to avoid Bellatrix's flailing arms as the deranged girl started floating upward toward the ceiling. The Death Eaters standing around them were too confused by what was happening to realize that Lily had been the one to cast the spell.. James understood, though, and he ran up to Lily to untie her wrists while the thick-skulled masked men and woman simply stared at the screaming Bellatrix.  
  
As she floated to the ceiling, though, Bellatrix managed to take a swipe with her arm big enough to catch Lily's neck with her knife.  
  
With her newly freed hands, Lily clutched the side of her neck where Bellatrix had cut her. She felt the slick blood on her fingers and running down her shoulders. The pain pulsing from the gash was nearly unbearable and Lily felt more and more light headed as the blood continued to pour from her.  
  
"Oh Merlin, Lily!" gasped James when he had seen what Bellatrix had done. The Death Eaters had seen it, too, and took it as their cue to attack. As they rushed forward, James jumped at Lily, pulled her to the ground, and covered her as though he was her human shield.  
  
Lily waited for the impact, for the Death Eaters to pelt them with every spell and curse they knew. She grabbed onto James' arms that were wrapped around her and waited for them to be killed by the deranged men and woman who wanted them dead. It was taking an awfully long time. Maybe, for these final moments, everything just was moving in slow motion. Lily opened her eyes to try and get a look at the Death Eaters, but all she could see was James' sweater, still covering her.  
  
What she did hear were multiple cracks in quick succession. Then a lot of shouting. And a booming voice saying that everyone was under arrest under the Wizarding Law.


	21. The Trial

There was screaming. Lots of screaming.  
  
Lily tried to catch a glimpse of what was happening around her, but James seemed determined to keep her safely on the ground. She could only listen to the shouts and loud pops, which she assumed were Death Eaters apparating away. For a moment, James shifted and Lily saw the battle that seemed to be raging around them. Death Eaters were panicking as the Ministry officials waved their wands, casting binding spells to capture the dark wizards and witches.  
  
James saw what was happening, too, and slowly sat up from his protective position. A blast of light suddenly jetted directly at Lily and she gasped, but the curse simply bounced off an invisible shield a few meters away.  
  
"They put us under a shield charm," said James, looking around at the chaos that surrounded them.  
  
Lily tried to sit up, but her world suddenly flipped and spun before her eyes, forcing her to find the floor again. Even when she kept her gaze directed on the ceiling, Lily couldn't focus on anything. She became more and more light-headed by the second, but right before she drifted off into the blackness, two shaking hands grabbed her and covered the gash left by Bellatrix's knife. A muffled voice was trying to speak to her, but she didn't have the energy to listen. All Lily wanted to do was to fall asleep....  
  
"Lily!" James shouted as he shook her violently, slightly bringing her back from her trance. "Evans, wake up!"  
  
James was appearing clearer as Lily slowly gained consciousness. There was another figure, to the side of James, who was sharply waving a wand and as they did, the gash on Lily's neck became less painful. Despite still being quite light-headed, Lily felt an instant relief as her wound healed.  
  
The world around her eventually became clear and Lily could see that it was an Auror who had healed her wound. The Auror and James both offered Lily their hands and helped her stand and steady herself. The cabin seemed crammed with wizards and witches, mostly Ministry Workers who were holding Death Eaters capture. They were all gagged and bound, with fierce, manic looks in their eyes. Lily scanned the room and noticed Bellatrix wasn't there.  
  
"A lot of them got away," said the Auror in a rough voice. "The name's Alastar Moody. I've been put in charge of watching over you underages."  
  
"I'm James Potter," said James, shaking Moody's hand.  
  
"Well, of course you are. Spitting image of your father."  
  
James smiled proudly, then turned to Lily. "This is Lily Evans and over there is Sirius Black."  
  
Moody glanced over to Sirius, who's arm was being wrapped up by another Auror. "A Black? That's interesting. Are there any more of you?"  
  
"Yes," answered James, looking over at the kitchen, "My friend Remus Lupin is somewhere over there with three Muggles who are childhood friends with Lily. I... I hope they're all right."  
  
Lily's eyes widened. What had happened to Cassie, Bess, and Jill? Were they hurt or cursed? Had they been secure in their hiding spot during all the fighting? She quickly ran to the kitchen, ignoring the awful head rush she was getting, to go find the others. "Cassie? Bess? Jill? Are you okay?"  
  
It was Remus who came hobbling out of the pantry. "We're alright," he said. "Well, we're alive, at least."  
  
Lily rushed past him and saw her friends huddling together in the corner. Cassie was grabbing her ankle and wincing in pain while Jill held her jumper to a bleeding arm. It looked like Bess hadn't suffered any harm at first glance, but when Lily got closer she could see that Bess' eyes were crossed.  
  
"Lily?" said Bess shakily, "Is that you? Are they gone?"  
  
"The Ministry of Magic and the Aurors are here," said Lily as she flung herself onto the girls, smothering them in hugs. "They're like the magical police and they captured a bunch of the Death Eaters. We'll be okay. I'm just so glad you're all safe."  
  
"That was so scary," whispered Jill.  
  
"I'm so sorry you were all dragged into this," Lily told them.  
  
"Lily, how could you keep this whole world a secret?" said Cassie. "I can't imagine how hard that's been. But at least now we know why you were sent away to boarding school." She smiled at Lily.  
  
"Yeah, that's true! No more secrets between us," laughed Lily, feeling more relieved that her friends would be alright.  
  
"Maybe... maybe we could visit you at your magic school? Could you teach us some tricks?" asked Jill, looking hopeful. "Obviously this has been a terrifying experience, but... it's also the craziest thing I've ever been a part of."  
  
"That would be pretty fun, wouldn't it?" said Lily, though she knew it wouldn't be allowed to bring Muggles to Hogwarts.  
  
"Everything all right in here?" came Moody's growling voice from the door.  
  
"They have some injuries, but nothing fatal," Lily told him. A few other Aurors came into the pantry and helped the girls up and onto floating stretchers. Lily squeezed Cassie's hand, happy that her friends were finally in safe hands. After saying her quick goodbyes, Lily met up with James, Sirius, and Remus in the living room.  
  
Again, Lily ignored the pain in her head and ran over to James, catching him in a hug which he gladly returned. She never wanted to let go.  
  
"Hey, I want in on this!" said Sirius and he wrapped his arms around them both.  
  
"You, too, Moony," laughed James and soon Remus joining in.  
  
Lily was so thankful that everyone was alive and she desperately wanted to stay in this Marauder sandwich forever.  
  
"Excuse me," said a woman and the warm hug broke apart, "but we need you to accompany us to the Ministry of Magic now. I don't believe that any of you are in a fit state to apparate, so we have to wait a couple of minutes for the Floo Powder to become available. Any questions?"  
  
"Yeah, I've got one," Sirius said, " why are we going to the Ministry?"  
  
"Well, you all need to attend your hearing."  
  
"Hearing?" asked Lily and she and James looked at each other. Why was there a hearing? Were they being punished for being attacked?  
  
"Yes. All four of you are underage, therefore the magic you preformed was against the law." The woman saw the panicked look on all of their faces and continued. "Don't worry too horribly, I'm sure you will all be released due to your circumstance."  
  
As Lily turned to look at the others, she saw Remus shift uncomfortably. She wondered if he thought that his werewolf problem would count against him. Did the Ministry even know what he was?  
  
Before she knew it, Lily was being ushered into the tiny fireplace with the boys and being directed on where to go. Alastar Moody shuffled in after them, held up a large fist contained with powder, and shouted, "Ministry of Magic."  
  
Having never travelled by Floo Powder before, Lily made the mistake of keeping her mouth slightly ajar. She began to choke on the hot ashes that rushed around her. But in a flash, she was tumbling out of another fireplace, far away from the little cabin on the Chirstophe Braziere Ski Resort.  
  
Lily looked around to see the other boys brushing ashes off their clothes and James shaking embers from his messy hair.  
  
"This way," growled Moody and he took off down a corridor. Lily sped up her pace to try to keep up with Moody, but he was walking extraordinarily quickly for a man with a limp. She had never been to the Ministry of Magic before and, even though a hearing wasn't the best of occasions, she couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the beautiful and intricate detail of the underground building.  
  
There wasn't much time for admiring the architecture, however, for in just a few minutes they had reached the courtroom.  
  
It wasn't a huge room, but it was large enough to fit close to sixty wizards and witches, all wearing impressive robes and matching hats. In the sea of black, Lily spotted a small group of outsiders, whose more colorful clothing stuck out like a sore thumb. As she looked more closely, she realized her parents were amongst them. Her mother looked horribly nervous and shifty, not quite sure where to look and what to do. Her father, on the other hand, was wide-eyed and curious, soaking in his new surroundings. He was the first to spot Lily and nodded at her, not sure if waving would be appropriate under the circumstances. When her mother looked over, Lily could see the worry and concern in her eyes.  
  
Next to her parents was an extremely anxious woman who was wringing her hands and blinking away tears. Maybe Mrs Lupin? A row behind her were another, slightly older couple who looked a tad annoyed and the slightest bit tired. Lily guessed that these were James' parents, especially when she saw the final group. The three people, dressed very elegantly and looking grim, could only be the Blacks. The mother, whose long, dark hair curtained her sallow face, sat very still with her glaring gaze fixed on Sirius. The man to her right had his eyes shut and his long, ringed fingers massaged his temple. He was the best dressed of them all, with what looked like a dragon scale suit under a velvet robe. The last member, who Lily recognized as Sirius' younger brother, Regulus, sat uncomfortably on his bench. He ruffled his black, wavy hair over his forehead and looked down, as if he were trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone else in the courtroom. All three of the Blacks were angling themselves away from where Lily's parents were sitting just a row away.  
  
"Oh Merlin," said Sirius upon finding his parents in the crowd. "I'm dead."  
  
"Where did you tell them you were going, again?" asked James as he gave a little wave to his own parents.  
  
"Er, I don't remember. Egypt? Romania? No use pretending now, though."  
  
"Why do we even need to be on trial?" asked Lily.  
  
"I'm going to guess it'll be because of all the underage magic, exposing Muggles to our world, and for letting a werewolf loose on the grounds of a ski resort," said Remus.  
  
He was right.  
  
The trial went by quickly because the Ministry decided that the underage magic was acceptable in life threatening situations. When Lily explained exactly how her friends were forced to learn about magic, that was excused, as well.  
  
"We can deal with that little problem," the judge said after Lily finished. "As for the werewo- I mean, as for Mr Remus Lupin, we would like for you to come up to the stand."  
  
Remus shakily limped to the middle of the room and looked up to the judge.  
  
"Mr Remus Lupin, were you aware of when the full moon was occurring this month?" The judge asked.  
  
"Yes," Remus muttered after clearing his throat.  
  
"And you understood that you were in a public area full of innocent Muggles?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you understood the risks of transforming on that night and in that location?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And finally, do you understand how much your headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, goes through in order to keep you and others safe while you transform?"  
  
Remus was visibly shaking now. "I do."  
  
The judge sighed and rubbed his temple. No one had mentioned that Lily's friends had any encounter with the transformed Remus. James, Sirius, and Lily, swiftly described Remus' full moon experience as ordinary and uneventful. James explained that Remus ended up in the "abandoned" cabin after the sun came up, just as they had planned. Lily's muggle friends only joined them after the threat of the Death Eaters arose.

James' ability to lie to authority easily under pressure was honestly extraordinary. 

"We don't get very many cases like this, Mr Lupin. There are technically no laws marking where werewolves can and cannot transform. But I would like to ask you exactly why you chose a Muggle ski resort for this full moon?"  
  
Remus paused to think and cleared his throat again before speaking. "I… I just wanted to be with my friends," he carefully said while he glanced behind his shoulder at James and Sirius.  
  
"But why?"  
  
Lily could see that Remus was concentrating on picking the right words. Letting slip that James, Sirius, and Peter were Animagi would get them in more than just a detention in the real world.  
  
"They're good at taking care of me," he said.  
  
"After the sun comes out?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The judge took another deep breath. "I am going to speak with Professor Dumbledore. I feel as though we cannot possibly give you an appropriate punishment, simply because we have never dealt with a case like this before. Until then, we ask that you remain in your own home until your summer holiday is over."  
  
Remus nodded and said, "Thank you, sir." He hobbled back to his seat next to Lily and collapsed into it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked over to his friends with a wary smile. "Dumbledore should go easy on me," he whispered.  
  
The judge wrapped up the session, announcing that there would be no charges and that the Muggles would be dealt with separately.  
  
"What dose he mean by 'dealt with?'" asked Lily and James just shrugged.  
  
"We're bloody lucky, aren't we," said Sirius. "Not even a scratch."  
  
"Don't speak too soon," said James, motioning over to Sirius' parents who were heading directly towards them.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes and James quickly darted away to avoid a confrontation with the Blacks.  
  
"We should probably leave them to fight," said Remus, pulling Lily away. She, Remus, and James weaved their way through the crowd of witches and wizards who were exiting the court room. When she glanced back to Sirius, she could see and hear that he was already in a full-on shouting match with his parents.  
  
She found her own mother and father glued together and wandering around the outside corridor. Lily nervously approached them.  
  
"Oh, darling!" squeaked her mother, grabbing her in a tight embrace. "What ever have you been doing on your holiday? It all sounded so horrible."  
  
"We were under the impression that you were relaxing with your _normal_ friends," added her father. "How did those magical werewolf blokes even get involved?"  
  
"It's sort of a long story-" started Lily, but her mother cut her off.  
  
"And where are Cassie, Bess, and Jill?"  
  
"I… I don't know. Would you mind if I went with James, Remus, and Sirius to find them?" asked Lily.  
  
"Oh, Lily," said her mother, shaking her head, "I don't think that's a good idea."  
  
"It sounds like you were in an extremely dangerous situation… we don't want you getting into more trouble," said her father.  
  
"We were so worried when the funny looking patchwork man showed up at the door and told us what happened," said her mother. "Petunia was upset, too, of course."  
  
Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm sure she was devastated."  
  
"We'd rather you'd just stay with us and come home now," her father said sternly.  
  
"Well, that's too bad," Lily said, mustering up her last ounce of courage for her parents. "I have to find my friends now, because I don't know what's happened to them and I'm very worried and I don't think you could ever understand that my world is way different from yours." The last part was a bit irrelevant, but Lily was angry and it was honestly how she felt.  
  
Her poor parents stood in front of her, slightly dumbfounded.  
  
"I'm going," repeated Lily. "You can stay if you want. Or leave. I'm sure you could exit in whatever way you came. And I'm sorry. About everything." With that, she turned and determinedly walked away, feeling bad about being so rude to her worried and out-of-place parents.  
  
Quickly, she found James, who was already laughing with his own mum and dad. They must have been used to their son getting in trouble, what with all the detentions James had received throughout his years at Hogwarts. Or maybe they were relieved that they hadn't lost another family member. She greeted him and James turned to introduce her to his parents.  
  
"Mum, Dad, this is Lily Evans," he said as Lily shook their hands.  
  
"Lily Evans?" said James' father. He had a very deep, booming voice that didn't seem to fit his lanky build. "That name sounds familiar. James, you've mentioned Lily before, haven't you?"  
  
James turned the slightest shade of pink and cleared his throat, uncomfortably. "Erm, no… no I don't think so."  
  
"Oh no," said James' mother, a short, petite witch with mousey hair, "I do recall you speaking of a Miss Evans. Quite a lot, actually."  
  
"And for years, I'd say," said Mr Potter, sneaking a wink towards Lily, who blushed, herself.  
  
"Okay," said James as he pushed his parents away, "that's enough of you two, now."  
  
Mr and Mrs Potter laughed at their son and were about to leave when Sirius stormed over, looking absolutely furious.  
  
"Oh, Sirius!" exclaimed Mrs Potter, happy to see James' friend.  
  
"I'm leaving them," Sirius said, a fire in his eyes aflame from the battle he had just had with his mother and father.  
  
"Sorry, dear?" said Mrs Potter, reaching out instinctively towards Sirius.  
  
"I'm not living there anymore."  
  
"Padfoot, what happened?" asked James, alarmed.  
  
"It's not important. I just can't live there anymore. Okay?" Sirius didn't look any of them in the eye.  
  
"Well, son, you know you're always welcome at our house. In fact, we insist you live with us," said Mr Potter as he put an arm around Sirius.  
  
"Thanks," mumbled Sirius.  
  
"I'll go arrange a room for you then, love," added Mrs Potter, giving Sirius a big hug.  
  
"You're the best," said Sirius, smiling once again.  
  
"Do you want to go find the girls?" said James after a moment.  
  
"Yes please," said Lily. She was horribly concerned that something bad was going to happen to them. The way that the judge had spoken about them didn't sound at all positive. The three of them left to go find Remus, who was speaking to his mother.  
  
Mrs Lupin was a complete mess. Her cheeks were stained with tears and she was furiously blowing her bright red nose into a lacy handkerchief. She held on to Remus, rocking him back and forth as she would a young child. Remus stood still, his arms at his sides. He turned his head away from his sobbing mother, saw Lily, James, and Sirius, and mouthed, "I'll write you later."  
  
They took that as their queue to leave and so Lily, James, and Sirius headed away from the crowd and down another corridor. They found Moody down the hall.  
  
"You're lucky," he told them as they approached him. "Especially that Lupin boy. He's damn lucky there aren't more strict laws for werewolves."  
  
"I was wondering," said Lily, "why didn't the Ministry come earlier when we did underage magic? And why didn't anyone come and help us sooner?"  
  
"It was the Death Eaters," explained Moody with a growl. "They put a sort of complicated curse around that whole ski resort. From the looks of it, the spell was put up right after you all arrived and taken down when they came to attack you. Caused that bloody avalanche. It completely blocked out our sensors. Your Traces couldn't be tracked, so it was like you were hidden from the Ministry's eye."  
  
"Huh," said James, looking mischievous, "any possible way we could learn that spell?"  
  
Sirius laughed, but Moody kept a straight face. "No, Potter, you cannot." With that, he hobbled away without another word.  
  
"These Ministry blokes have no sense of humor," complained James.  
  
"Are you also referring to when you told the judge that, and I quote, 'Remus' fury little problem is just a side effect of being a total badass?'" said Sirius with a barking laugh.  
  
"That was hilarious, you've got to admit," said James. "I even saw that one chubby guy crack a smile at that one."  
  
Lily smiled and shook her head. "Seriously, guys. We need to find Cassie, Bess, and Jill," she said.  
  
The boys nodded and the three headed off down the next corridor in search for their Muggle friends.


	22. The End

It took Lily, James, and Sirius a good half an hour of sneaking around the Ministry of Magic before finding Cassie, Bess, and Jill. After checking several doors, most of which were locked, Lily tried one that led to a room with a single fireplace. She was about to close the door and continue her search when a reflective sign caught her eye. It was a list of Wizarding buildings in London and their pronunciations, acting as a reference of names for witches and wizards to call out while traveling via Floo Network. In dark purple script, Lily read, _St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries._  
  
“They’re at St Mungo’s,” she whispered.  
  
“Of course they are!” bellowed James. “They were injured, even Muggles go to Mungo’s, especially if they were affected by magic. That way they can--”  
  
James froze, his jaw slacked and his eyes stared blankly ahead.  
  
“That way they can... what?” asked Lily. She looked over at Sirius, expecting him to share her confusion, but he was wearing the same distant expression. “What’s happening?”  
  
James finally closed his eyes and shook his head. “They’re going to have their memories wiped.”  
  
“It’s probably already happened,” added Sirius, gloomily.  
  
Without even properly thinking about it, Lily reached out to the pail of Floo Powder that sat on a stool next to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of the sparkling silver substance. It felt like dust between her fingers, remarkably soft, but somehow incredibly solid. A plan started formulating in her head as she inched closer to the hearth of the fireplace. She could feel Sirius and James watching her, trying to gauge how she was taking the news of her friends’ memories. They were rational. The boys might be trouble makers, but even they knew when to draw the line if The Ministry was involved. Surely they would try to stop her, so she knew she must act quickly.  
  
In one quick movement Lily grasped a handful of powder, knocked over the stool, and swiftly stepped into the fireplace. In the same breath, she threw her Floo Powder to the ground and shouted the name of the magical hospital as clearly as she could while bright, emerald flames engulfed her. The last thing she saw was the look of panic on James and Sirius’s faces as she was whisked away by the blaze.  
  
Coughing from the ash in her mouth, Lily emerged in a white brick room filled with fireplaces and couches. A little witch sat behind a glass window and stood up to greet Lily, but she didn’t get the chance. Lily had already sprinted out of the room and down a corridor. She had bought herself a little time by crashing the pail of Floo Powder during her escape, but she knew that James and Sirius would be after her soon.  
  
Lily had never been to St Mungo’s before, so her first step was to find out what floor her friends were on. Her feet carried her as she ran through the long hallways. Her mind was racing with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. The Death Eater attack, the Aurors taking them to The Ministry of Magic, their trial, it was all too much to think about. And on top of everything, now Lily’s three best friends were going to have their memories erased.  
  
It was common knowledge that Muggles were required to have their memories wiped if they were exposed to magic, but Lily never thought it would apply to her friends. In her head, she just assumed that they would finish their holiday, go home, and be able to keep the secret that had initially divided their friendship. But now The Ministry was involved and Lily should have known that this would happen. Cassie, Bess, and Jill were threats. A group of Muggles protecting the secret of the Wizarding world objectively wasn’t a good idea, but Lily’s heart ached at the thought that her friends would lose everything they had been through together. That an entire portion of their lives could be stolen from them just because they didn’t have magical blood. This was the closest Lily had been with the girls in years, since before she had gone off to Hogwarts. She was desperate to fix this.  
  
A large floating, grey sign read that _Muggle Services_ was on the fourth floor in the _Spell Damage_ department.  
  
She took off to the staircase and climbed to the fourth floor. Breathing heavily, she swung the door open to a large room filled with Healer stations and bustling witches and wizards in bright green robes. Lily darted in between the Healers, drawing a bit of attention to herself. A few called after her, asking if she was lost or distressed, but she ignored them. Up ahead, she could see a large sign that read _Muggle Services_ with glowing cursive letters. As Lily reached the door, she heard a shout from behind. her.  
  
“LILY!” yelled James, Sirius running up behind him. “PLEASE, THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO!”  
  
She stared at James. His eyes were pleading with her to not make any rash decisions. His hair was a ruffled mess and he was practically panting from sprinting after her. Lily looked at the boy who she had been through so much with. The boy who she had grown close to... much closer than she ever thought possible. Her chest felt light as she watched him slowly walk towards her, begging her to be rational. She wanted to explain to him in that moment that even though she was stubborn and even though she was resistant, she really did love him. But there wasn’t time for that right now, so instead Lily smiled softly at James and took one last look at him before bolting through the door.  
  
Lily ran faster than she ever had through the hallways in the _Muggle Services_ corridor. Frantically, she scanned the rooms for any sign of her friends. She could hear James and Sirius bursting through the door and the weight of their feet slapping against the ground as they chased after her. But Lily was determined and finally got what she was looking for at the end of the long hallway. There was a large glass wall and behind it Lily spotted Cassie, Bess, and Jill.  
  
The three girls were strapped into large, metal chairs. They all wore light blue gowns and were drowsy, but awake. Lily’s panic set in as she watched a Healer start to approach Jill, his wand stretched out in front of him.  
  
Ignoring the shouts coming from James and Sirius, who were sprinting down the corridor, Lily sent a curse through the glass wall and bolted into the room as the Healer shouted, _“Obliviate!”_ The sudden crash caused all three girls to sit upright, snap back to reality, and for the Healer to turn and face Lily mid-charm.  
  
Lily could feel the Forgetfulness Charm rush over her. Immediately, she felt faint and queasy, unsure if her legs could support her. She looked around the room and already had the sense that something was terribly wrong. Her mind kept grasping at the things she already couldn’t remember. Desperate to keep any kind of memory from the past few weeks, she tried her best to hold on to an image of her and James on the ski lift. She focused on James, smiling at her, laughing with her, and pointing at the little people snowboarding below them. She remembered the forest below and the bright sun overhead. She could remember the snow.  
  
But she hadn’t been skiing since she was a little girl. That was so long ago, she hoped to go back soon. But first Lily needed to figure out why there were cuts on her arms and glass shards on the floor. She grimaced in pain as she rubbed her injured arm. Thank Merlin it seemed like she was already at the hospital! Maybe this man in green robes could help her find some bandages.  
  
Even though her eyesight was going in and out of focus, Lily could see her friend, Bess, sitting on a chair, struggling to get down.  
  
“Lily!” Bess shouted as she freed one of her arms and reached out to Lily, who had now dropped to the floor.  
  
“Hey Bess!” Lily said. “What are you doing here?” She smiled at her friend and made a mental note to write to Bess, Jill, and Cassie after she went back to Hogwarts. She hadn’t seen much of them this summer and she felt bad that they had been growing apart for years. Maybe they could get together over winter break and reconnect.  
  
There was another shout behind her, but Lily could barely see who it was calling to her. It was a boy’s voice. She squinted at the figure and could see, just barely, that it was James Potter.  
  
“LILY, PLEASE, ARE YOU OKAY?” he bellowed at her.  
  
 _That’s odd,”_ thought Lily. _When was the last time Potter called me by my first name?_  
  
And with that final thought, Lily lost consciousness.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Lily tapped her foot. She had been waiting for fifteen minutes for Remus Lupin to meet her at the front of the Hogwarts Express with all the other Prefects. It was not like Remus to be late for his responsibilities, so she assumed it was one of the Marauders that was keeping him back. She huffed and took off down the train to find their compartment.  
  
Finally, she spotted them and flung open their door.  
  
“Remus,” she declared, “what are you doing? We’re late for rounds.”  
  
The four Marauders, made up of Lupin, Pettigrew, Black, and Potter, snapped their heads in her direction and grew quiet.  
  
“Okay, don’t all speak at once, boys,” she said to the silent group. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. She had a sinking feeling they had all just been talking about her before she walked in.  
  
Finally Sirius cleared his throat. “Evans,” he said politely, “how was your summer holiday?”  
  
“Uneventful,” she responded. For some reason, her simple response seemed to stab Potter like a dagger. He looked at his shoes to hide the pained expression that Lily had already seen. She chose to ignore this. To pass the awkward time, Lily looked around and checked her watch as she waited for Remus to gather his things. “Did you all have a good break?” she finally asked, wanting to be polite.  
  
The boys mumbled various things about studying, relaxing, being with family, and not doing much. Peter claimed that he had read the entirety of _Hogwarts: A History_ , which Black claimed couldn’t have happened seeing as “Wormtail” was illiterate. There were some chuckles, but Lily noticed that Potter’s eyes were still transfixed on the floor.  
  
“Okay, ready,” said Remus as he stood up to join Lily.  
  
“Bye, Moony!” Sirius and Peter called and Remus waved back at them as the two Prefects left the Marauders' compartment.  
  
“Bye, Lily,” said the faint, somewhat hopeful voice of James Potter.  
  
Lily whipped around, to look at him, confused by the use of her first name. She and Potter had always called each other by their surnames and it felt strange to hear him say _Lily_ out loud. Strange... but nice? There was a new, but somehow familiar feeling stirring in her chest as she stared at James Potter.  
  
“Cheers, Potter,” she said. And with that, she turned and walked towards the front of the train with Remus, her heart beating noticeably faster and her head muddled with thoughts of messy hair, hazel eyes, and snowboarders sliding down a mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, thank you so much for reading Snowflakes! This story was originally posted across a span of six years, so it holds a very special place in my heart as you can see how I grew as a writer between the ages of 14 to 20. I love the Marauders and Lily with my whole heart. Reposting this story, rewriting parts, and updating the chapters has re-sparked my love of the series and helped me cope with JKR's recent hateful statements. The Potter fandom is lovely and creative and so, so inspiring. Thank you all for letting me be a small part of it. 
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on Snowflakes and if anyone might be interested in a sequel? Lily's sixth year at Hogwarts has been bouncing around in my head, recently, and I'd love to explore that if anyone might be interested. Snowflake's original reader base on MuggleNet Fanfiction has been lost with that website, but if you ever happened upon this story on MNFF in the past, I would love to hear from you, too :) 
> 
> Thank you all again, much love -The_Dream_Team


	23. Epilogue: The Sixth Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After spending time this quarantine editing and updating this story, I've decided to write a sequel to Snowflakes! 
> 
> Here's a taste of the first chapter of Raindrops- the entire first chapter is now published as a new work in The Snowflakes Series :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Flickering candlelight warmed Lily Evans’ cheeks as she stared off into the distance. Her eyes were transfixed, but even _she_ didn’t know what she was looking at. The laughter and chatter of her classmates around her dimmed to a muffle and even the sweet smell of rich chocolate, that once filled the air, had faded away. Was she in a dream? 

A hand reached out and grabbed Lily’s shoulder, shocking her into focus. The Great Hall came flooding back into reality and as Lily’s eyes readjusted to her surroundings, it became clear what she had been staring at. 

James Potter was at the receiving end of her gaze and his eyes met hers with a fiery look that instantly made Lily’s face hot. 

“ _Lily_ ,” whispered the girl who’s hand was still clutching Lily’s shoulder. “ _Lily, you’re starting to freak me out._ ”

Marlene McKinnon, a blonde girl with rosy cheeks and not a hair out of place, looked at Lily with wide, concerned eyes. 

“Sorry, I think I just drifted off for a second there,” said Lily. 

“I asked if you wanted some hot chocolate and you totally disappeared on me, Lily. Are you sure you’re okay?” Marlene’s eyes darted between Lily and James Potter, who was still looking in their direction. “What’s up with Potter?” she asked. “He’s been ogling at you all night, way more than usual…”

Lily couldn’t pretend like she hadn’t noticed Potter looking her way ever since she picked Remus up from the boy’s compartment on the Hogwarts Express that morning. But that wasn’t anything new. 

Her mind raced back to last year when Severus had stammered out, _“I just don’t want to see you made a fool of-- He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!”_ The whole school and probably half the staff knew about Potter’s crush. He wasn’t subtle, asking her out in crowded corridors, during Quidditch matches, and once as Lily deducted house points after she caught him trying to sneak out of the castle at night. But hearing Severus say it made her feel strange, almost guilty. 

Lily had no interest in James Potter. He was talented and admittedly charming but he _knew_ it. Potter and his mates, self-nicknamed _The Marauders_ , basically ran the school as if it were built for them. The four of them, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, were annoyingly bright, but used their skills to hex Slytherins on a daily basis. And having Severus Snape as a best friend inadvertently landed Lily on the wrong side of those pranks more often than not. 

Lily blinked hard and shook her head. _Severus and I are not best friends anymore_ , she reminded herself. She stole a glance at the Slytherin table across the hall and immediately spotted Severus deep in conversation with another sixth year, Mulciber. Her heart ached at the sight of the boy she used to spend every summer with. The boy who understood magic in a way none of her muggle friends or family could. Back home, her parents loved her, but there was a divide between them ever since Lily left for Hogwarts. This was the first summer she hadn’t seen Severus at all and looking back, the last few months felt empty. 

But Severus wasn’t the same little boy Lily had met at the park all those years ago. The same boy who once told her that being Muggle-born didn’t make a difference in the wizarding world. At some point, that little boy changed his mind.

Lily turned back to Marlene, who still studied Potter with her brow furrowed. He had apparently followed Lily’s gaze to the Slytherin table and when he looked back at her, his expression was so full of betrayal, Lily almost laughed.

“Merlin, he’s so dramatic,” Lily said to Marlene. The girls giggled and went back to their dessert.

As Lily turned to the custard on her plate, another pair of arms flung themselves around her shoulders.

“Oh Lily!” cried the fluttery voice of Mary McDonald as she shooed off some fourth years to make room on the bench next to her friends. “I didn’t see you on the train in, how was your summer?” 

“It was an extremely unexciting summer,” Lily responded, beaming at Mary. “I can barely remember leaving the house.” 

Mary, who was usually all smiles, suddenly frowned. “Did you not end up going on that ski trip with your Muggle friends?” she asked.

There was a sputtering sound followed by a clang and Lily turned to see Peter Pettigrew clapping a coughing James Potter on the back as Sirius Black attempted to clean up a puddle of pumpkin juice he had spilled all over his plate. She stared at the commotion happening down the table, but her mind was stuck on Mary’s question.

Ski trip. Ski trip? Lily wrapped her mind around why that was so familiar, when finally it hit her like a ton of bricks. 

“Oh, how could I forget?” Lily exclaimed. “You’re talking about that letter I got last year from my friend, Cassie, from back home, right?” 

Mary nodded eagerly and out of the corner of her eye, Lily swore she even saw James Potter lean forward, waiting for an answer. Why he was so concerned, she couldn’t say.

“I guess we never got around to making the trip happen,” Lily started. “I had totally pushed that out of my mind, actually… But how was  _ your _ summer? It had to be better than mine.”

As Mary spoke about her family’s holiday to Spain, Lily made a mental note to write to Cassie. It had been so long since she had spoken with her old friend from childhood, but Lily could hardly believe she hadn’t seen Cassie all summer. That surely would have been a nice relief from the long months with her parents and Petunia. 


End file.
